Baltimore Jewish Home - 5-29-14

Around theCommunity

PAGE 15

Ahavas Yisroel First Buffet Reception a Big Success!

Mercaz Torah UTefilla Breaks Ground

Mens 5K JCN Race has over 300 Participants

PAGE 15

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AY 29, 20143

of the Orphans Courtfor Baltimore City

Michele E.

LOEWENTHAL

Lewyn Scott

GARRETT

Stephan W.

FOGLEMANAuthority: Orphans Court

Campaign Committee,Robert M. Horne, Treasurer

2.

3.

4.

Hi. I am Michele

Loewenthal and I am

currently a Baltimore

City Orphans Court

Judge. I hear cases

involving disputes in the area of estates

and probate law. I have been a member

of the Baltimore Orthodox community

for over 30 years. My children attended

the local days schools and yeshivas.

I am seeking your support in the

upcoming June 24, 2014 primary

election by asking for your vote, for

me and my esteemed colleagues, Judge

Lewyn Garrett and Judge Stephan

Fogleman. We work well together as a

team serving the citizens of Baltimore City.

Thanks for your

help.

Michele

Judge Michele Loewenthal has served our community and all of Baltimore extremely well both as an attorney and as a judge. She, together with her experienced ticket, deserves our vote for the upcoming Baltimore City Orphans Court election. I know her both in a personal and professional capacity and recommend her and her outstanding ticket for the continued position as Judges for the Baltimore City Orphans Court. Eli Schlossberg

I have known Judge

Michele Loewenthal f

or over 30

years. She has provid

ed high caliber work

and excellent

service to the Baltimo

re community, both p

ersonally and

professionally. I urge

you to support her a

nd her team

of Sitting Judges of

the Baltimore City Or

phans Court

in the upcoming Jun

e 24, 2014 primary e

lection.

Chaim (Herman) Ber

lin

Primary ElEction Day: June 24Early Voting: June 12-19

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4CONTENTS

The Baltimore Jewish Home is an independent bi-weekly newspaper. Opinions expressed by writers are not neces sarily the opinions of the publisher or editor. The Baltimore Jewish Home is not responsible for typographical errors, or for the kashrus of any product or business advertised within. The BJH contains words of Torah. Please treat accordingly.

Dear Readers,

It has been a busy few weeks in Baltimore, and we tried to get it all in the paper this week. Look through all the photos; you may be in there!

Yes, I did run the 5K race for the Jewish Caring Network this pastSundayand was very happy I did. It is a great cause and I was happy to be a part of it. The entire race was done very professionally. I have to say the massage at the end was not bad either. Good luck to all the women runningon Sunday.

In this weeks issue we have a fascinating interview with Rabbi Berel Wein. I had the opportunity to spend a Shabbos by his apartment in Rechavia a few years ago, which was really quite a treat. I always enjoy listening to his views on various subjects, including how the pulpit rabbi position has changed over the years. The interview really covers a good portion of his life.

As we all know by now, Shavuos is next week, so we are giving our readers some extra material to read. The recipes, floral decorations, and Fruity Florals should keep everyone busy, while making sure everything looks and tastes up to par.

As always, we enjoy hearing from our readers, so feel free to reach out to me at [email protected]

Wishing you a most enjoyable Shabbos and a happy Shavuos!

Yaakov

COMMUNITYAround the Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

JEWISH THOUGHT Moving Forward While Looking Back . . . . . . . . . . . 42

The Observant Jew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Rabbis Musings and Amusings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

HUMOR & ENTERTAINMENTCenterfold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Notable Quotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

EDUCATIONForgotten Heroes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

SHAVUOSFruity Florals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

The Magic of Shavuos 1967. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Cheesecake Then and Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

A Trip Up the Mountain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

The Art of Flower Arranging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

COVER STORYA Conversation with Rabbi Berel Wein . . . . . . . . . . 35

LIFESTYLESGet PEYD and Get Going . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Dairy Made Easy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

New Country, New Careers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

NEWSGlobal News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

National News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Thats Odd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

ISRAELIsrael News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

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Around the Community

YKY/TIs Lag BOmer Father and Son Bonfire was one of the highlights of the year. Fifth through eighth grade boys and their fathers joined together for a spectacular evening of achdus and warmth. It started out with a deli-cious barbeque manned by several ca-pable fathers. Rabbi Shimon Hirsch, Sgan Menahel, then lit the bonfire, and the boys sat with their fathers and friends around the crackling fire.

Rabbi Yechiel Spero warmed the boys hearts with two inspiring sto-ries, and with great hislahavus, the boys and their fathers began to sing together. Rabbi Spero gave over the

powerful message that every person has a spark of kedusha inside them. The strength of the fire depends upon how much that person fans the flame. We each have the potential to be great, but we must fuel our inner flame with Torah and mitzvos done with enthusi-asm and sincerity in order to reach that greatness.

The event was planned by a won-derful group of parents, who put tremendous effort into making the bonfire a success. Daniel Ely, Dovid Feinberg, Moshe Hefter, Mickey Katz, Yehoshua Morgenstern, and Reuven Verschleisser saw the fruits of their la-

bor as everyone who attended enjoyed every minute.

The special feelings engendered by this event are an important part of the chinuch that YKY/TI works hard to impart. The focus of learning and middos is beautifully complemented with the Ahavas Hashem and Ahavas Yisroel brought out with events such as this one. As Rabbi Daniel Skurnik, Director of Development, said, A love and closeness for Yiddishkeit and a beautiful achdus is brought out and nurtured through such an event, and were happy to foster that.

As one of our parents commented,

It was a fantastic event done well, due to parent volunteers and school coor-dinators who put in hours and hours of time to create a truly amazing night. The feeling of achdus and warmth was palpable, as the fathers, sons, and Rebbeim sang together around the fire. A deeper connection was formed be-tween the students and their fathers to the yeshiva. They felt the love that the rebbeim have for them, and the ruach of the experience was one that they will hold dear for years to come.

Lag BOmer Bonfire at Yeshivas Kochav Yitzchok/Torah Institute By Sara Gross, a YKY/TI parent

THE BALTIMORE JEW

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AY 29, 20147

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STAR-K Certification Launches STAR-K Kosher Classroom at Torah Umesorah Convention

By Margie Pensak

TA Hosts Annual Science Fair

Earlier this month, STAR-K Ko-sher Certification was represented at the sold-out Torah Umesorah 58th Annual National Leadership Conven-tion by STAR-K President Dr. Avrom Pollak, STAR-K Kashrus Administra-tor Rabbi Baruch Beyer, and STAR-K Director of Special Projects Rabbi Zvi Holland, who introduced mechanchim to the STAR-K Kosher Classroom.

The STAR-K Kosher Classroom, which debuted at the convention, is an initiative to develop curricular mate-rials for elementary, middle, and high school classrooms. The first group of educational posters and videos were prepared to present to the 1,800 at-tendees from throughout the U.S., Canada, and elsewhere around the world, to generate interest, feedback, and partnership from those who will actually be presenting the materials.

Just as we do not charge for our extensive kashrus education programs and community services, we are not charging for these materials, noted Rabbi Holland. We wanted the teach-

ers to tell us what materials they would like to see and how they would want them to be designed, rather than us telling them how to teach it. Hundreds of participants, including Roshei Ye-shiva, rabbonim, principals, rebbeim, administrators, and morahs--Chasi-dishe and Litvishe--stopped at the STAR-K booth to ask for materials, discuss halachic topics, and to offer their encouragement and advice.

For decades, as the only major non-profit kashrus agency dedicated exclusively to kosher, STAR-K Ko-sher Certification has devoted itself to promoting kashrus through education. It does so through the distribution of nearly 100,000 copies of its quar-terly newsletter, Kashrus Kurrents, which are distributed free of charge around the world; its various year-round Kashrus Training Seminars and practicums offered, gratis, around the country; the STAR-K Kashrus Ho-tline (410-484-4110) which fields over 100,000 calls annually; its ex-tensive educational website (www.

star-k.org); and its ground-breaking Kashrus videos on topics such as Nik-kur and Bedikas Tolaim.

The STAR-K Kosher Classroom is an expansion of our educational efforts, explained Rabbi Holland. Our Kashrus programming for the classroom is age-appropriate for children across the spectrum. We are acutely aware that kashrus might be our most exten-sive engagement with practical hala-cha as adults. Yet, it is apparent from the phone calls we field that there is a gap in our schools curriculums in this area. Educators have told us the reason why there is so little classroom education about kashrus-related hala-cha is because of a lack of information and materials. Many of these topics

require experts in the field, who are intimately involved in production pro-cedures.

Torah Umesorahs Director of De-velopment Rabbi Binyomin Holland asserted, STAR-Ks participation in the Torah Umesorah Convention has demonstrated, once again, that its ded-ication to Klal Yisroel goes beyond hechsherim.

For inquiries, call 410-484-4110. To receive access to the STAR-K Ko-sher Classroom, email [email protected] .

THE BALTIMORE JEW

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AY 29, 20149

Shomrei Emunahs Annual Seforim Sale

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Early Bird SpecialMake your purchase 10am3pm Sunday, June 1st, & receive an

Additional 5% OffYour Entire Purchase, Including All Sale Items!

Shomrei EmunahShabsis Judaica Annual Seforim Sale Location:

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Whats on sale? EVERYTHING!

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4Around the Community

Zelig was a bright boy, but he had trouble sitting still. How do I know he was bright? He has this ability to fig-ure things out. Put something into his hands and he could take it apart and put it back together. Zelig had trouble in school. His rebbeim didnt know what to do with him. He was always busy, but not busy with his sefer or with his learning. Sometimes Zelig

was sent out of class. He didnt under-stand why when he was in the hallway he would get into more trouble. A few times Zeligs parents had to find him a different Yeshiva to attend. Zelig is not a bad kid, but he does need some-thing different. Im afraid to think what might happen, where he may wind up, if he cant continue in a Ye-shiva setting. Yaakov is a kind, car-ing, and helpful young man. He has some learning issues that make it hard

for him to focus over long periods of time. This makes a Yeshiva day very difficult. When Yaakov runs of out steam, he often daydreams. Yaakov has missed a lot of skills and yedios (concepts) over the years. For all of these reasons, he has not yet found a Yeshiva that is interested in accepting him. The list goes on, and with ev-ery name is another story. These are

not your clas-sic at risk boys. Not yet; but they are very much at risk of becom-ing at risk unless we do something and provide some form of alter-native Yeshi-va setting for

these boys. There also exists another issue that requires our attention. A number of years ago William Rapfo-gel, Executive Director of the Metro-politan Council on Jewish Poverty, was quoted as saying, The Orthodox community often places so much em-phasis on religious learning that even some young men who are not academ-ically inclined feel pressure to pursue rabbinic studies. He said that the phenomenon of people coming out

of Yeshiva without ade-quate employment skills is a significant issue.

The Lancaster Yeshi-va Center (LYC) strives to resolve these various aforementioned issues. LYC has developed a very unique program offering Yeshiva limu-dim (studies) in small groups and scheduled, limited periods of time, combined with hands-on experiential vocational training in a host of con-tracting/construction-re-lated fields.

Bochurim live in a structured, religious environment of daven-ing and learning, while preparing themselves with technical job skills training. The entire pro-gram is conducted in a nurturing en-vironment where the boys enjoy their learning, grow emotionally, and have fun participating in a cadre of activi-ties. In general we have a wonderful Yeshiva system with dedicated reb-beim. However, it is time to realize that one size does not fit all. Our Ye-shiva system should be offering alter-natives to the mainstream Yeshivos.

Once again, The Lancaster Yeshiva Center is such an alternative; a place where boys can experience success now, as well as prepare for a success-ful future.

For more information about Lancaster Yeshiva Center, please call Rabbi Shaya Sackett at 717-940-2777 or email [email protected]

On Lag Baomer, Ohr Chadash faculty, parents and excited stu-dents loaded into buses and cars on the way to Patapsco State Park for their annual Lag Baomer Outing. Hours of fun was had by all. The younger grades spent their time climbing and playing in the tire park; it was hard to get them off. The old-er students enjoyed the nature and water hikes. A delicious barbecue of hot

dogs and hamburgers was served for lunch with sto-ries and divrei Torah by our Rebbeim, Rabbi Tu-via Danziger and Rabbi Moshe Chaim Lazewnik. It was awesome, said Avi Gunzburg, parent of four children at OCA. The day came to an end with a great kickball game - staff and parents against students - and ev-eryone went home with smiles on their faces.

LYC, Preparing for a Successful FutureBy Sara Gross

OCA Spend Lag Baomer at Patapsco State Park

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AY 29, 201411

RE-ELECT FOR DEMOCRATIC STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEE 41ST DISTRICT

ROSENBLUTHDELIVERS

Safety. Stability. Leadership.

By authority of Friends of Ronald RosenbluthRafi Wassner, Treasurer

To vote for your community member

Ronald Keith Rosenbluth

BE REGISTERED BY JUNE 3RDRegistration is easy! Pick up form from Tov Pizza and return filled out form directly to Ronnie. It only takes a few minutes!

REGISTERED DEMOCRATYou can switch your affiliation from republican or independent to democrat for this election and still vote your wish in general elections.

BALTIMORE CITY RESIDENT

1

2

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Election day: June 24th

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On Sunday night June 22nd at 7:30 PM, Suburban Orthodox will be host-ing a concert with world-renowned singer/songwriter Eitan Katz. Eitan is most well-known for his beautiful soulful song Limaancha as well as other hits such as Boruch Hu and Yehai Raava. He is also well-known for doing wonderful remakes of clas-sic songs from Shlomo Carlebach. Eitan is known to create energy at his shows that can inspire Jews of all walks of life.

The evening will start with a spe-cial opening by Yisroel Juskowitz. Yisroel is an up and coming star in the Jewish music scene whose singing and songwriting has received much critical acclaim, and is in a similar style to the late Shlomo Carlebach. Yisroel is also a gifted writer and artist, having writ-ten his first book recently, as well as producing his first album.

In addition, there will be some in-

spiring words at the event given by Rabbi Shmuel Silber of Suburban Or-thodox. This will add another dimen-sion to what is already expected to be an extraordinary event.

The cost of the show is $15 for 1 ticket, 2 for $25, or 5 for $50. Reserva-tions can be made by calling the Sub-urban shul office at (410)484-6114 Ext 2, or calling Bayli Schor at (410)358-0969. Tickets will also be available at the front door.

Sponsorships include the Balti-more Chessed Fund, www.wrapunzel.com, Pikesville Pharmacy, Shabsis Judaica, Perns Judaica, Goldbergs Bagels, and Shaindees Makeup.

For more info on Eitan Katz and Yisroel Juskowitz, go to www.eit-ankatz.com and www.yisroelworld.com

Eitan Katz Concert in Baltimore!

Anticipation is mounting across town, and preparations are underway for the first ever community-wide daf yomi siyum, to be held on the evening of Thursday, June 12, in conjunction with the finishing of Maseches Rosh Hashana. A project of the Baltimore division of the Daf Yomi Commission of Agudas Yisroel of America, the si-yum will unite all of Baltimores daf yomi learners under one roof in an unprecedented display of achdus and kavod hatorah. This has the poten-tial of being a tremendous Kiddush Hashem, and a real chizuk not just for the lomdim, but for the entire com-munity, says Rabbi Eliyahu Simcha Bamberger, National Coordinator of the Daf Yomi Commission of Agudas Yisroel. We have helped organize similar events in a few other commu-nities, and they have all been truly inspiring. Baltimore has the unique-ness of its special achdus among all

of the shuls, and we look forward to strengthening that through bringing everyone together in a communal simcha.

The community of Baltimore cur-rently boasts over 20 Daf Yomi shi-urim, ranging in size from two mem-bers to around 30, and spanning the entire day. The first shiur in town starts at 5:20 a.m., and the last one ends at 10:00 p.m. We have seen a real increase in daf yomi learners since the last siyum hashas, says Mr. Meir Raskas, president of Suburban Orthodox Congregation, home of the largest daf in town. Rabbi Silbers ever popular, early morning shiur has remained consistently well attended. Initially, we discussed a Bais Medresh expansion to accommodate an over-flow crowd for the start of Meseches Brachos. At first I did not believe that the excitement and crowds would last beyond Masechta Brachos. We are

now well into Rosh Hashana, and on some days it is standing room only! Currently in its ninth masechta, the current daf yomi cycle began in July of 2012, after the record breaking Si-yum Hashas at MetLife stadium in New Jersey.

There is a bittersweet aspect of the siyum, however. With the recent passing of Mr. Dovid Hess, a great void has been left in the Baltimore Torah community. Mr. Hess was extensively involved in promoting kavod shamayim through daf yomi and many other community projects. I am happy to hear that the local Baltimore Daf Yomi Commission is alive and well after the sad passing of Dovid Hess , said one popular mag-gid shiur.

The highlight of the siyum will be an internationally broadcast shiur, given by Rabbi Dovid Heber, on top-ics from the masechta. Daf yomi shi-

urim in communities across the globe will have the opportunity to join to-gether with Baltimore in this simcha through the broadcast of the siyum program, including the shiur.

The siyum, to be held at Khal ahavas Yisroel Tzemach Tzedek (Rabbi Heber), will begin with Min-cha at 7:10 p.m. It will be followed by a catered seudas mitzvah, siyum program and the shiur. There is no charge for this event, but reservations are required. Those who learn daf yomi with a shiur are asked to reserve with their maggid shiur or another representative of their shiur. Individ-uals not associated with a shiur may reserve by contacting [email protected], or by calling the siyum hotline at 410-504-1681. We look forward to seeing you there.

Preparations Underway for the First Ever Community-Wide Daf Yomi Siyum and Shiur

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AY 29, 201413

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Ahavas Yisroel First Buffet Reception a Big Success!Jeff Cohn/BaltimoreJewishLife.com

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Mens 5K JCN Race has over 300 ParticipantsPhoto Credit: Lev Bar-av/National Photo

Mercaz Torah UTefilla Breaks Ground Jeff Cohn/BaltimoreJewishLife.com

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About two decades ago, my grandfa-ther, Professor Avraham Schwartzbaum zl, was instrumental in establishing Maalot schools in various communi-ties in America. He understood the im-portance of providing post-seminary girls with a program that would enable them to not only continue their Lim-udei Kodesh studies, but also have the opportunity to obtain degrees in higher education for the purpose of obtaining a career.

A few years ago, Rabbi Zvi Teich-man, the Rav of Ohel Moshe in Balti-more, together with Mr. Jordan Wiener and Mr. Azi Rosenblum, two askanim in the Baltimore Jewish community, saw the need to provide post-high school yeshiva boys with the same opportu-nities. So together they joined forces, recruited Mrs. Cindy Ring as the reg-istrar, and created Machon Mevakshei Chaim (MMC). The program began in

September 2012. In addition to Rabbi Teichman, the Limudei Kodesh staff includes a wonderful rebbe and noted author, Rabbi Boruch Leff.

The morning program goes from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. The first two shiurim are given by Rabbi Leff, and include subjects like Megillas Esther, Mesilas Yesharim, Kisvei HaRav Dessler, and many other well-known sifrei mussar. Rabbi Leff gives over a class in a way that gets everyone involved. If a guy has a question on anything, he feels comfortable asking it. No one worries about whether its a good question or not because Rabbi Leff makes everyone feel that his question is important. He is always looking to build a person up and always seems to have an answer that satisfies the person asking the question. The final shiur is in gemara and is given by Rabbi Teichman. His gemara shuir is very enjoyable and relaxed. Whether

you are a strong learner or a weak learn-er, everyone walks away knowing the gemara.

The students are then off in the af-ternoon during which time they either

work part-time or take online classes or attend classes at a local college for additional credits. The program resumes in the evening and the students take college classes. The classes go from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and are taught by a highly qualified staff of teachers. My friends and I not only enjoyed the classes, but we also came away really knowing the material.

The program is run behind the scenes by the registrar, Mrs. Ring. Mrs. Ring sits down with every student before he begins the program to find out which profession he would like to go into and which classes will best suit him. She then sets up a schedule for each person outlining for him which classes he will be taking and what he needs to do to complete the program. If anyone has a problem regarding their education, Mrs. Ring is the one to whom everyone turns. She is there to make sure all the students are happy, and tries her best to accom-modate students who need help. She is also always open to suggestions wheth-er it be regarding a teacher you would like to have teach a class or a class you would like to take. Whenever you need advice on which career path to choose, Mrs. Ring is there for you.

I graduated from MMC in February 2014. During my time in the program, I developed a close and strong kesher to both Rabbi Teichman and Rabbi Leff. The atmosphere in the program is just like a big family. Friendships are forged at MMC that last a lifetime. Everyone is very warm and caring to one another. The stronger students help prepare the weaker students before exams. In addi-

tion, the teachers are always available for students when they need help with anything. I have such great memories of late-night study sessions preparing for mid-terms and finals. Also, on Chanu-kah, Rabbi Teichman hosts all the guys for a mesiba at his house. Some of the guys bring their guitars and other musi-cal instruments. The singing and music is so beautiful. On Purim, Rabbi Leff has all the guys over for an incredible Purim mesiba with delicious food, and everyone always has a great time.

For me, the thing I cherish the most is my relationship with Rabbi Teichman. There are no words to describe just how amazing he is. It is so easy to talk with him about anything. No topic is off-lim-its. He is such a loving and caring rebbe and always seems to have a solution that makes everyone happy. Upon graduat-ing MMC, Rabbi Teichman asked me if I had anyone to learn with now that I am not in the program anymore and working full-time. When I told him I did not, he set up a learning seder with me every morning so that I can continue learning. My chavrusa with Rabbi Te-ichman is the highlight of my day. This really shows you the love and care the rebbeim have for the students in MMC. Even after one has completed the pro-gram, they are still involved in your life and continue to look out for you.

The past two years that I have been in MMC have been the best years of my life. I forged friendships with all the guys, and they are like brothers to me. The relationship I have with Rabbi Teichman and Rabbi Leff will last a life-time, beH. I know that they will always be there for me when I need them. Last but not least, I would like to thank Mr. Wiener and Mr. Rosenblum for creating this program. MMC has given me an incredible two years where I was able to not only earn my college degree, but most importantly, continue to learn and grow in Torah and become a better per-son, all the while creating friendships that will last forever.

For more information about Ma-chon Mevakshei Chaim, please contact Mrs. Cindy Ring at 443-839-6576 or [email protected]. Rabbi Teich-man can be reached at 410-570-3333 or [email protected].

A Graduates View of MMCby Avrumi Goldstein

THE BALTIMORE JEW

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AY 29, 201417


Pikesville Ultimate Frisbee Takes Offby Nadiv Sugarman

A spinning disc soaring through the air is a common sight at beaches, parks, and other recreational areas. Discs, often referred to as Frisbees, are often enjoyed as a form of bond-ing and relaxation among friends and family. You might think, as I once did, that a relaxing and laid-back game of toss is the extent of the enjoyment that can be had from a spinning disc. I was surprised to find out that so much more is possible with just a disc, an open field, and a few cones.

Ultimate is a fast-paced and com-

petitive game and was invented and first played in the late 60s by Jewish high school students in Maplewood, NJ. It combines the non-stop move-ment and endurance of soccer with the passing skills of football. The game is played by two teams with a disc on a field, similar to football, with two end zones and boundary lines. The ob-ject of the game is to score by catch-ing a pass in the opposite end zone. A player must stop running while he possesses the disc, but may pivot (as is in basketball) and pass to a team-

mate on the field. When a pass is dropped, intercepted, or passed out of bounds, the disc is turned over to the other team.

Ultimate is typically orga-nized at college levels as well as local pickup games. People of all skill levels and ages come together to enjoy a game of Ulti-mate. For many years, the Pikes-ville community has fostered many occasional pickup games at parks, schools, and in back-yards. In the spring of 2010, Ultimate players from around the community established a weekly mens Sunday morning pickup game at Wellwood. This pickup game became a great op-portunity to meet other players

and improve individual skills. To-wards the end of the 2013 Ultimate season, the players of the Sunday morning pickup game created PUDA (Pikesville Ultimate Disc Associa-tion) to help grow the game and share the joys of Ultimate with the entire Pikesville community.

On March 23rd, PUDA kicked off the 2014 season with a skills clin-ic with separate divisions for boys (12-and-under) and men (13-and-up) in partnership with the DC Current semi-pro team. Representatives from the Greater Pikesville Recreation Council, USA Ultimate, and Sports Boosters of Maryland attended and supported the development of the sport locally, under the auspices of PUDA. The clinic attracted over 35 players of different ages and expe-rience levels. The mission of the Sports Boosters of Maryland is to support local youth athletics, said Jon Herbst, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Sports Boosters of Mary-land, Inc. and candidate for Balti-more County Council, 2nd District. Its no secret that Ultimate is one of the fast-est growing and exciting sports in the nation. We are impressed with PUDAs ef-forts to create new opportu-

nities to play and learn Ultimate right here in NW Baltimore. In light of this success, PUDA will continue to focus on continuous improvement, and provide a welcoming portal for beginners to explore the sport.

If you are looking for a great, in-expensive workout, exciting plays, and positive competition that includes players of all ages and skill levels, come join us every Sunday morning. The game starts at 9:00 AM and is held at a reserved, lined field at Pikes-ville Middle School. All you need to bring is some water and a positive attitude, and we guarantee that you will have a blast! Well also have a booth at the upcoming Community Block Party Day on June 8th at the Owings Mills JCC. A four-week sum-mer youth clinic program for boys ages 8-12 is planned for four Tuesday evenings: June 10, 17, 24 and July 1. All this information and more can be found at www.PUDA.moonfruit.com or by contacting [email protected].


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The Week In News

Global4 Killed in Belgiums

Jewish Museum

Tragedy struck this week when the Jewish Museum of Belgium was the attacked by a lone gunman. Three men and a woman lost their lives. Two of them were a middle-aged Israeli cou-ple from Tel Aviv.

The shooter arrived by car at the museum in Central Brussels, entered, and quickly opened fire with an AK-47 before fleeing the scene, Belgian Inte-rior Minister Joelle Milquet said. The shooter remains at large, and the na-tions terror alert level has been raised. Authorities say their efforts at locating the gunman has been hampered be-cause he was wearing a baseball cap.

Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Didier Reynders, who was nearby when the shooting occurred, told reporters he saw the victims inside the museum, called the emergency services, and put witnesses in touch with police. It seems that a car was double-parked and that a person went in and came out of the museum quickly after shots were fired, Reynders said. One wit-ness managed to see the license plate of the vehicle used in the attack.

You cant help thinking, when you see a Jewish museum, to think about an anti-Semitic act, but the in-vestigation will tell more, he said. The person involved in the attack was carrying bags, and police were asked to look inside the museum to ensure that no devices were left behind, Reynders added.

Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo swiftly condemned the attack

and said Belgium stands united with the Jewish community of 40,000. His office said he also called Netanyahu to express the deep solidarity of Bel-gium with the Israeli population.

Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, pointed out, Attacks on Jewish targets in Eu-rope do not exist in a vacuum, but are part and parcel of an overall climate of hate and incitement against Jewish communities.

This is once again, much like the savage murders in Toulouse, a clear example of where hate and an-ti-Semitism leads, he said. Europe-an governments must send out a clear message of zero tolerance towards any manifestation of anti-Semitism.

Henry Goodman, president of the Jewish Community Center in Brussels, also drew a parallel with the attacks by a gunman in Toulouse, France, two years ago when a rabbi, three Jewish

children, and three French paratroop-ers were killed, saying it must be the same logic. He added, They, who-ever they are, are not going to close the community activities. Jewish peo-ple know what anti-Semitism means. They are not going to silence us. ... We are going to survive and fight.

Goodman told reporters he was horrified by what had happened Saturday. We didnt expect such a terrible act. Since we dont know who

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The Week In News has done it or the reason, we can only imagine that it is an act of pure an-ti-Semitism, he said.

The Consistoire Central and the Coordinating Committee of Belgian Jewish Organizations have opened a crisis center, and community leaders are in direct and permanent contact with police, local authorities, and emergency services.

Amsterdam Returns Fines to Holocaust

Survivors

Amsterdam is finally repaying some of its Jewish residents who had to flee from the Nazis in World War II and were forced to pay overdue taxes if they were lucky enough to return. The compensation will include all of the late fees that the taxpayers were charged during their time in concen-tration camps.

The city council said in a state-ment that it will repay survivors or their families 820,000 euros ($1.1 million). It plans a wider investigation into unfair postwar charges.

Mayor Eberhard van der Laan said, With the eyes of today, but also with the eyes of then, the city levying fines on war victims was formalistic and inappropriate.

A student, Charlotte van den Berg, found documentary evidence of the abusive practices in 2011 in city ar-chives. Letters from Holocaust sur-vivors complained that the city was charging them for property seized after their deportation to Nazi concen-tration camps.

Japan Takes the Day Off

Japans workers are so overworked and stressed the country is practically forcing them to take off. The Japanese government has created a 16th na-tional holiday, called Mountain Day, scheduled for August 11. The holiday, which officially recognizes the coun-trys beautiful mountainous regions, is ostensibly a way to make sure the already overworked population takes a day off. In the U.S., there are only ten national holidays, but the average

worker takes another 10 out of 14 paid vacation days. In Japan, workers take an average of 8.6 days off a year. In Japan, there is of course paid vacation, but people dont take it, Seishiro Eto, a member of Japans Liberal Demo-cratic Party, which led support for the new holiday, said. I hope with Moun-tain Day, people will be able to take more of their vacation.

In fact, Japan as a country is so overworked, they have a word there that describes the stressful condition brought on by the trauma: karoshi, which literally means death from overwork. A 2012 Pulitzer Foun-dation investigation concluded that with the recession of the 1990s, many Japanese companies departed from the tradition of lifetime employment and went through massive layoffs, replac-ing costly full-time workers with low-paid temporary workers who have no benefits or job security. As a result, salarymen increasingly work longer hours because of a shortage of man-power and the fear of losing jobs.

Is workaholism necessarily a con-

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The Week In News dition for productivity? In France, a county well-known for its relaxed working attitude and generous man-datory vacation policies, the worker productivity ranks among the highest worldwide. When you have a longer working day, at some point because youre becoming tired, it decreases your productivity, French economist Renaud Bourls pointed out to Busi-nessweek.

But mandatory vacation may not be an answer for the workingmans blues. For one, national holidays just mean congested roadways and high airline ticket prices for most people. I guess the only solution is to work like the French. Ill drink to that!

Worlds Former Heaviest Man Dies

On Monday, the man who was the worlds heaviest person at one point died at the age of 48. Manuel Uribe once weighed a whopping 1,230 pounds, certified in 2006 as a Guin-ness World Record. He had slimmed down to about 867 pounds since then.

Uribe, a resident of Mexico, was confined to his bed for years, unable to walk on his own. He was taken to the hospital by crane on May 2.

Uribes weight gain wasnt just a recent thing. He was chubby as a child, weighing 250 pounds as an ad-olescent. Unfortunately, his weight prevented him from partaking in many activities we take for granted. Since 2002, Uribe had been bedridden. His mother and friends took turns feeding and cleaning him.

Karzai Says No to Meeting Obama

On Sunday, President Obama ar-rived at Bagram Air Base outside of Kabul in a surprise visit before Me-morial Day. Afghan President Hamid Karzai was offered a meeting with the president, but declined to meet with him.

U.S. authorities said they were not surprised by his refusal to meet with the American leader. As we said, we werent planning for a bilateral meet-ing with President Karzai or a trip to the palace, as this trip is focused on thanking our troops, an official said.

We did offer him the opportuni-ty to come to Bagram, but were not surprised that it didnt work on short notice. The president will likely be speaking by phone with President Karzai in the days to come, and also looks forward to working with Af-ghanistans next president after the election is complete.

Obama and Karzai are not best of friends and have a rocky relationship. Washington has been deeply frustrated by the outgoing Afghan leaders refus-al to sign a bilateral security agree-ment that would allow it to lock in a post-2014 US troop training mission in the country.

Terrorist Killed By His Own Bomb

A member of a well-known terrorist group was killed this week when planting a bomb. Security officials in El-Arish, Egypt, say the would-be bomber was planting a road-side bomb when it detonated prema-turely. The explosion took place in the restive Sinai Peninsula.

The bombers father lost an arm as well. Both men are members of Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which has been blamed for some of the bloodiest at-tacks in Egypt in recent years. Their assaults increased dramatically after the overthrow of the Islamist President Mohammed Morsi last July.

The two terrorists were trying to plant the bomb on a road frequently used by the army.

IsraelHizzoner Honored

in JerusalemFormer NYC mayor and billionaire

philanthropist Michael Bloomberg was awarded the first Genesis Prize in Jerusalem last week. The prize, en-dowed by the Genesis Philanthropic Group, awards the worlds leading contributor to Jewish values with re-spect to philanthropy, social entrepre-neurship, preserving human rights, and generally improving the world through innovation and compassion.

The Genesis Award is being called the Jewish Nobel Prize, comedian Jay Leno noted, as Bloomberg and Prime Minister Netanyahu sat side by side a few rows away in the Jerusalem Theater. Thats news to me I thought the Nobel Prize was the Jewish prize. I mean, who else wins it? he quipped.

Leno, who hosted the event, then asked, Did you hear Ehud Olmerts defense strategy? He said he blamed it all on the Jews I was stunned by how many Israeli politicians have gone to prison. When you ask a for-mer politician here what his cell num-ber is, it takes on a whole new mean-ing. One of the biggest laughs of the night came when Leno took aim at Barack Obama, noting that he de-scribes Americas bond with Israel as unbreakable, because hes been trying to break it for five years.

In another jab against the U.S. ad-ministration, 64-year-old Leno said that according to the Central Bureau of Statistics, the most popular name for a child in Israel is Noam. The least popular? he asked. John Kerry.

After introducing his Israeli pen pal and new best friend Netanyahu, the prime minister took the stage to honor Bloomberg, whom he described as an exceptional man.

Eschewing hot-button political topics, Netanyahu focused on the enduring nature of Jewish tradition, values, and thirst for knowledge and innovation, while drawing parallels to Bloombergs many accomplishments.

We cherish our heritage, but are always seeking new things, he said. I think thats what the State of Israel is about, and I think the world marvels at that Michael has revolutionized an industry, opened vast quantities of information, and placed one of the most challenging cities in the world on solid footing, the prime minister said proudly.

Netanyahu continued, Like Mi-chael, we have taken giant risks and shown the world what chutzpah is He is a man with the ability to identify solutions, and before that, the prob-lem. Thank you for making this a bet-ter world.

Bloomberg said he would use the million-dollar prize to fund the Gen-esis Generation Challenge, an inau-gural global competition to find the next big idea and invest in it to en-sure the next generation of Jews will be inspired.

While contestants for the new prize do not have to be Jewish, President of the Genesis Prize Foundation Wayne Firestone noted that the winning proj-ect must embody Jewish values and contribute to areas that environmen-talism, public health, and other social entrepreneurial endeavors.

Bloomberg told the audience, G-d put us on the earth to take care of others, and its important not to talk about it, but to do it.

Kids Strike Gold

Talk about a wealth of education! Sixteen gold and eight silver medal-lions with Arabic inscriptions were unearthed by a group of fifth graders from the Ramat Korazim School in northern Israel on a class archeolog-ical dig at the Korari National Park. The treasures are assumed to be from the Ottoman era.

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The Week In News ing and historically valuable finds that will spill more light on the past of the Korazim town, said Dr. Yossi Bordo-vitz, an archaeologist employed by the Parks Authority.

The young archaeologists of the Ramat Korazim dug excitedly at the moment the medallions were dis-covered, the excitement was great, he described.

Korazim is an ancient town, locat-ed just north of the Sea of Galilee. The Talmud mentions the site as producing fine wheat. Remnants of a shul and a mikvah have already been uncovered at the site.

Jordan Releases 2 Israelis Held on Suspicion

Two Israelis and a man from Brit-ain were released last week at the Jor-dan-Israel border. The men had been held in Jordan for four days on suspi-cion of fraud and counterfeiting cur-rency charges.

The three men were released and deported to their countries, said a Jordanian official to the press. They were interrogated, and the authorities got the necessary information from them, he said, refusing to give any other details.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli for-eign ministry said that they were aware that two Israelis had been arrested, but gave no further details. Jordan and Is-rael have a peace treaty agreement that has been active since 1994.

Tnuva Sells Major Stake to Chinese

Israeli dairy firm Tnuva, the coun-

trys largest food company, has an-nounced that it will be selling 56 per-cent of their company to Bright Food Group, which is owned by the Chinese government.

According to the deal, Bright Food will make the purchase via British private equity house Apax Partners. Although the agreed-upon price is un-disclosed, Tnuva is reportedly valued at 8.6 billion shekels, or $2.5 billion.

The deal, one of the largest in the history of the Israeli market, will give Bright Food access to Israels techno-logically advanced dairy production. Tnuva earned more 7.17 billion shek-els, or $2.05 billion, in 2013.

Israel is a country with highly developed agriculture and animal hus-bandry techniques. Tnuva, as Israels largest food company, has a long his-tory and various products and large market share, a Bright Food spokes-man said.

NationalCar Thieves

Love Accords

If youve ever stolen a Honda Ac-cord, youre not alone. It seems that this cute car seems to attract thieves like bees to a hive. For the fifth year in a row, the Honda Accord is the fa-

vorite among car thieves, leading a list of the 10 most stolen and recovered vehicles for 2013.

According to a list released by Lo-Jack Corp, the Honda Civic, Toyota Camry, Toyota Corolla and Chevrolet Silverado were the next most popular stolen cars. Rounding out the top 10 for 2013 were the Acura Integra, Ca-dillac Escalade, Ford F350, Nissan Altima and Chevrolet Tahoe. (Its in-teresting to note that the Integra was last available in the U.S. as a sedan or coupe in 2001. Where are these thieves getting them from?)

But its not just about type of car you have that makes you vulnerable to car theft. Residents of California had the most thefts and recoveries in 2013. (Guess they should have just surfed to work.) Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Mary-land, Arizona, Georgia and Washing-ton were the next most popular places for thieves to pilfer vehicles.

Wherever you live, if you want to hold onto your vehicle, youll be best off staying far away from black colored cars. Buy a turquoise one in-stead. No joke.

Youve Got Mail, But Not at Your Door

On Wednesday, the Republi-can-controlled House Oversight and Government Reform Committee ap-proved a bill to direct the U.S. Postal Service to convert 15 million address-es over the next decade from door de-livery to communal or curbside boxes. Although this method will be less con-venient for residents, it is less costly for USPS. Converting to communal or curbside delivery could save $2 bil-lion annually. Thankfully, individuals with disabilities who are unable to

leave their homes would be able to get waivers. And if you dont think that you will be able to manage the change, you could pay extra for door delivery.

The committees chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., mentioned that this project provides an interim op-portunity to achieve some significant cost savings. Apparently, door deliv-ery costs $380 annually per address compared with $240 for curbside and $170 for centralized methods.

Democrats objected to the plan. I think its a lousy idea, Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., said.

Other lawmakers raised concerns that in urban areas there is no place on streets to put banks of cluster boxes with separate compartments for each address.

Issa pointed out that communal boxes offer a safe locked location for packages, eliminating the need for carriers to leave packages on porch-es and subject to theft and inclement weather conditions.

The postal service reported a $1.9 billion loss for the first three months this year despite continued cost-cut-ting, a 2.3 percent rise in operating revenue, and increased employee pro-ductivity.

Work Perks

Want to whistle while you work and bring home a nice paycheck? Forbes has compiled a list of Ameri-cas best companies for compensation and benefits. Turns out that happiness 9 to 5 is not as elusive as we may think.

The top company to work for in the U.S. according to this list isGoogle. Well, Id be happy to with free all-day meals that serve employees dishes like porcini-encrusted grass-fed beef and

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parmesan creamed onions. Yum. Can I have seconds?

Thats not all that Google workers enjoy. In addition to fat paychecks, the company offers free buses that pick up employees around the Bay Area for work. If you dont like mass transit, the company also offers bikes to commute around campus and even a fleet of electric cars for certain work outings. Healthy insurance is amazing and even more than that, if someone should pass on,

their spouses get 50% of their sal-ary for the next decade and any chil-dren receive $1,000 a month until they reach 19, or 23 if the child is a full-time student. But Google wants their employees happy and healthy. There are the on-site doctors, physical ther-apists and chiropractors, smoking ces-sation programs, cooking classes.

Do you like shopping at Costco? Well, it seems that Costcos workers really like working there. Part-time employees are offered full insurance benefits, and cashier assistants, entry level employees who bag items and check prices, make $11.75 an hour; front-end cashiers, who handle check out, start at $16.07. No surprise that its number 2 on the list.

Facebook is number 3 on the list and their employees really feel like theyre all friends. With these perks, they are certainly sure to like going to work. According to spokesperson Slater Tow, Facebook offers: Three free meals a day and our campus in-cludes two main cafes, a BBQ shack, a salad bar, a noodle bar, a hamburg-er stand, and others (yesterday we even had our annual luau), 100% paid health insurance, four weeks vacation per year, on-site, free dry-cleaning and laundry service, annual game day, where we take a day off of work to go outside and play games as a com-pany, new parent benefits that include $4,000 in cash for each new baby, four months of paid leave for parents of ei-ther gender and subsidized daycare. Wow! Can I submit my resume?

Adobe, Epic, Intuit, USAA, Chev-ron, Salesforce.com, and Monsanto all rounded out the top ten places for compensation and perks for employ-ees to work in the U.S. Keep smiling!

A Piece of Fahrenheit

The late eccentric science fiction author Ray Bradburys house is up for sale for $1.5 million. The three bed-room, three bath home on the Westside of Los Angeles may be stripped of all the Fahrenheit 451 and Dandelion Wines authors personal effects, but his imprint on the abode is indelible. The split level house still has a worn out grab-bar that helped support the 91-year-olds hefty frame built into the wall, and the refrigerator handle remains soiled from all his late night binges. Of course, the houses exterior is painted a cheery dandelion-yellow.

Upstairs in the house, there are countless shelves which held every-thing from stuffed animals, books, golf balls, bird nests, [and] bits of iron from the demolished railroad tracks, according to his friend Bill Goodwin. The walk-in shower even contains shelves as does the basement, where Bradbury did most of his writ-ing.

Interestingly, Bradbury used to credit an event that took place in 1932, when he was just a young boy, for his love of reading and writing. During a visit to the carnival with his mother, an entertainer, Mr. Electrico, touched the young Ray on his nose with an electrified sword, made his hair stand on end, and shouted, Live forever! Years later, Bradbury remarked, I felt that something strange and wonderful had happened to me because of my en-counter with Mr. Electrico...[he] gave me a future...I began to write, full-time. I have written every single day of my life since that day 69 years ago.

The author never attended college and was a big supporter of libraries. Libraries raised me. I dont believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries because most students dont have any money. When I grad-

uated from high school, it was during the Depression and we had no money. I couldnt go to college, so I went to the library three days a week for 10 years, he once said.

Although there is talk of a group of collectors buying the home in order to preserve it, the LA home market is so hot that such an outcome is unlikely. If only a group of Martians would be able to move in.

eBay Site Hacked

Last week, eBay Inc. confessed that their network was hacked. Hack-ers gained access to 145 million users records three months ago. The com-pany said that the breach was detected in early May, and security experts and law enforcement officials were imme-diately brought in to investigate.

The records that were obtained in-cluded passwords as well as email ad-dresses, birth dates, mailing addresses, and other personal information; thank-fully, credit card numbers or other personal financial information was not released.

This is being considered one of the biggest data breaches in history, based on the number of accounts com-promised. Customers were strongly advised to change passwords instantly and to be on the alert for fraud, espe-cially if they are in the habit of using the same passwords for other accounts.

People need to stop reusing pass-words and should change their affect-ed passwords immediately across all the sites where they are used, advised Trey Ford, global security strategist with cybersecurity firm Rapid7.

The Twist is OutThe tourists have done it! In an

ironic twist, the San Francisco MTA is shutting down the famously crook-

ed Lombard Street, a longtime tourist attraction in the city, during weekends in the summer because of the amount of congestion caused by sightseers. An average of 2,000 vehicles generally descends the street on weekend days. The closure will not affect residents of the area.

The street, which has eight hairpin turns, has been the subject of com-plaints by residents because of grid-lock caused by posing tourists. This will be a test to improve the safety for residents, pedestrians and motorists in the area, MTA spokesman Paul Rose said. There are often a lot of people who come to either take pictures or drive down the street and it can cause lengthy delays.

Tourist Dylan Giordano, 21, of Los Angeles, agreed. Its an insane amount of traffic and it must be dif-ficult and obnoxious for the wealthy residents who live here and cant even get into their own driveway.

Those crooked tourists!

He Knows the World by Heart

Akhil Rekulapelli is only 13-years-old, but he has a solid plan for his future. He wants to attend Stanford University for medicine and one day become a surgeon. But for now, Akhil is happy to travel the world. Actually, much of his traveling has been done in his head; he is now the first place win-ner of the National Geographic Bee.

Rekulapelli, who placed fourth last year, was named the champion out of nine other finalists last Wednesday.

I probably want to be the head of a department at a hospital, try to grad-

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uate at the top of my class, but I think, right now, this is probably the biggest accomplishment Ill ever achieve in probably 20, 30 years, said Akhil, an eighth grader from Sterling, Virginia. Itll be a while.

Akhil was rewarded with a $50,000 scholarship, a trip to the Galapagos Is-lands with his family, and a lifetime membership to the National Geo-graphic Society. The winning schol-arship was doubled from last year thanks to a donation from Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek, who stepped down a year ago as host of the bee. Broadcast journalist Soledad OBrien hosted this years competition.

Definitely felt a lot of pressure, the teenager said. Ive done some-thing Ive been wanting to do my whole entire life, and Im so happy its actually come to reality now.

So what was the question that de-clared him the winner? Heres one for you to figure out: what African coun-try is building a new capital called Oyala in the rain forest, 65 miles east of Bata? If youve guessed Equatorial Guinea, you got it right.

Well, Akhil, can you now tell us where in the world is Carmen Sand-iego?

Dakotas Da Place to Live

Im in a New York state of mindtry North Dakota. According to Gal-lups new well-being index, theres a lot that goes into having a posi-tive outlook, including physical and emotional health, along with work opportunitieseven ones gleaming incisors. So while cities like San Jose and San Francisco may rank high on the well-being index because they are host to quite a few billionaires, the rest

of the state of California does not fare as well.

Colorado, for example, is always at or near the best in the nation for the lowest obesity rate, reports Gallup. Utah has the fewest smokers. Massa-chusetts has boasted the highest level of residents with health insurance all six years. New Jersey has the lowest levels of depression. [Say what?!] And Vermont rules America every year in produce consumption.

But its Middle America thats got the best overall outlook. Montanans have incredibly low obesity rates and tremendous job satisfaction; Minne-sotans are a bundle of energy and are very good to their teeth (seriously); Nebraskans, while not being so keen on exercise, are very well rested; and the Dakotas love their jobs, have great healthcare and have the few-est headaches in the U.S., making those states the highest ranked on the well-being index.

The dourest of all states? West Vir-ginia. I guess cheap beer and cigarettes arent all theyre cracked up to be.

Big and Bigger in Texas

Everything may be big in Texas, but in some fast growing cities there, things dont seem to be big enough. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Lone Star State is home to 3 out of the countrys 5 fastest growing cit-ies and 7 of the top 15. The explosive growth has been the product of a re-cent oil boom. And while people are flocking to Texas, developers are hav-ing a hard time keeping up with the demand for homes and infrastructure, such as roads and schools.

In Odessa, TX, the eleventh fast-est growing U.S. city, for example, the school system is bursting at the seams and the water supply is stretched thin after a recent drought. The city has benefitted from high salaries and work opportunities that came about through

oil fracking. Its a challenge to con-tinue to provide services to the rising population when youre competing with the same workforce and labor that the oil field is. So that means that the municipalities have to adjust their pay scale ... to try to attract the labor, said Richard Morton, Odessas city manager. Were growing, but were not growing fast enough.

San Marcos, TX, the number one fastest growing city in the nation, was right on track in keeping up with the population surge. According to Mayor Daniel Guerrero, the city had enough money socked away to feed the boom, but then the Great Recession hit and all development had to come to a grinding halt. Now, it is forced to pick up in the middle of all the projects that were left abandoned a few years ago. So throughout San Marcos you see a

multitude of construction, Guerrero said.

I guess theres a reason they call us the Supersized Nation.

NY Living Comes at a Price

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Cities that are chockfull of ameni-ties come at a high price. Kiplingers has compiled a list based on the re-search of the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) of the most expensive cities to live in the U.S. These cities generally offer great social settings, excellent jobs and di-verse communities. Still, says Dean Frutiger of C2ER, whether you would be willing to pay the high cost of liv-ing in certain areas is a highly subjec-tive question.

The city with the highest cost of living is, of course, New York. The median home value is over a half million dollars and the average cost of living is a whopping 120% above the U.S. average. All that money for all that congestion and pollution. After NYC is Honolulu, where the cost of Tiki Bars and palm trees is 60% above the rest of the country. Gas costs 20% more in Hawaii and even eggs carry an 80% premium. But that shouldnt matter to you if youre busy catching some waves. Aside from having to live near slimy politicians, Washing-ton, D.C., also has a cost of living that is higher than 40% of the US.

Then theres California where ev-erywhere, from top to bottom, Oak-land to Los Angeles, San Francisco to San Diego, is just pricey to live. That may be because of the robust job mar-kets in those cities, as well as the high housing prices there.

That sounds like California dream-inI mean California nightmares.

Thats Odd

Pack n Pay

As if sleep away camp isnt expen-sive enough, the New York Posts Tara

Palmeri reports that parents are hiring pros to pack their childrens suitcases. Well-paid organizational consultants are inundated by calls from mothers who want to make sure their children will be just as comfortable at camp as they are at home.

While sending plastic bins and drawers to camp is not new, hiring someone to pack it certainly is. And some mothers have requested that the packers help parents recreate their childs room so that the little camper wont feel homesick.

The consultants make sure to order all the right linen and accou-terments for clientslike scented candles and special soapsand are paid $250 per hour for services. On average, each suitcase needs three to four hours of packing time. Yes, thats right$1,000 to pack one suitcase.

And note the timing of this article: yes, some little campers have suitcas-es are all ready to gotwo months in advance.

Rescuer ReunitedIn a heartwarming story, an Illinois

Good Samaritan who rescued an aban-doned newborn from a cemetery sur-prised her once again by stopping in on her graduation at Charleston High School in Charleston, Illinois.

In 1995, Charlie Heflin found a blood-covered newborn, still attached to its umbilical cord and clinging to life, lying in a graveyard. The infant, Skyler James, was adopted by a lo-cal family five days later and always wanted to meet the man who gave her a chance to live and hear his version of the miraculous events surrounding her birth. Skylers adoptive mother, Bon-nie, spent years searching for Skylers rescuer and finally found Heflin on Facebook just weeks before Skylers graduation.

At the tearful graduation/reunion, Heflin shared newspaper clippings and photographs of when the two first met, and even gave Skyler the leather jack-et he was wearing the night he found her. They took me over to Charlie and he introduced himself to me and told me the whole story again, Skyler said. I was totally shocked. Its some-thing that Ive dreamed of since I was

a little kid, and its amazing. Heflin says that Skylers story was

the inspiration for the Illinois safe haven law, which allows unwilling parents to abandon their infants at fire and police stations.

Sinking Fast

In a million dollar disaster, an 85-foot yacht capsized into the water as it prepared to launch on its maiden voyage. Six people were aboard the Northern Marine Industries boat in Anacortes, Alaska, as the boat tipped over; none were hurt.

As the boat began to roll forward, several crew members ran to the en-gine room to adjust the ballast, but the room soon filled with water. Five peo-ple were able to escape immediately. One, who was trapped, was rescued a short while later. Thankfully, none of the 120 gallons of diesel fuel leaked from the boat.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Jordan Aki-yama said, Im just happy to be on the ground. An incident management team is looking into the incident.

Rolling in the deep.

Oldest Cat in the Book

Old people certainly can be catty, but theres a cat in Bournemouth, En-gland, thats vying for the top spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for oldest living person (except shes a cat). Poppy, a 24-year-old tortoiseshell

puss, is 114-years-old in human years, just one year younger than Misao Oka-wa of Japan, the oldest person in the world.

Blind and deaf, Poppy spends most of her wizened time indoors in the house of her owner, Jacqui West, who brought her from her mothers house after getting married fourteen years ago. She is the boss of a house that in-cludes two boys, four other cats, a rab-bit and a hamster.

Last year, after the death of Pin-ky, a 23-year-old cat from Kansas, Poppy claimed the title of Longest Living Cat in the Guinness Book of World Records. Craig Glenday, Guin-ness World Records editor-in-chief, said: Weve been overwhelmed with claims for the oldest living cat, with owners from across the globe making applications on behalf of their cats. To-day, though, Im pleased to confirm that were recognizing Poppy from Bour-nemouth in the UK as the worlds old-est living cat, at the age of 24 years. If anyone thinks their cat beats this, and can prove it, then wed encourage them to get in touch with us. The oldest cat to ever live was Crme Puff, a 38-year-old from Austin, TX. Meow.

Says owner Jacqui West, She can get up the stairs but we wont let her walk down. Over the last yea,r her health has gone down and we know the end is near. We knew she is old but to be officially recognized is just great. We are all chuffed for her. I think all old cats deserve recognition of their achievement.

She continued, As a family, we are so pleased that she is still with us as well. There have been times in this last year when her health has declined and Ive thought it was the end on sev-eral occasions but then she recovers and carries on. Poppy does seem to be out-living all our other pets too. We un-fortunately had a hamster and bunny die on us last year. Each time we tell the grandparents weve lost an animal, they all assume its Poppy. Ive said good-bye to her a few times but she keeps on going. Seems like she has more than nine lives.

So whats the secret to her longev-ity? As with all mammals, diet and ex-ercise: People always ask what we put Poppys longevity down to and I guess she has a good diet and lots of exercise. She keeps herself fit by walking around and she eats a lot. She has biscuits in the morning and tinned food later on.

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Shes never been a big cat, though. She is partial to the odd takeaway. We sometimes give her a bit of KFC chick-en, fish and chips and even the odd bit of kebab meat.

Feisty feline.

A Pie in the Sky

Mama Mia! Soon you may not have to wait for the pizza delivery guy to putter up to your front door with your already cold order. A pizza chain in Mumbai has done something that only Amazon.com had previously ventured toward: a delivery drone. The drone flew at speeds of 30 km per hour from the pizza outlet to an apartment build-ing 3 km away before it dropped a half kilo, 13-inch Margherita pie onto the 21st floor roof. Whether the pizza ar-rived more intact than a Dominos pie is unknown. The entire delivery took less than 10 minutes; the average manual delivery takes 30.

The CEO of the unnamed chain said that he had his auto engineer friend design the custom made robot for his business. In India, however, regula-tions do not permit the sale of goods via commercial drones. The pizza delivery was made to a friend of the CEOs, and thus was not a sale, but the CEO insists that his company will be at the forefront of drone deliveries when his countrys regulations are modified to allow drones. While the technology exists, we cannot use it commercially at present, a company official said.

Watch your rooftops!

Pretty in Pink Parking

Thats not chauvinistic at all! The city of Seoul is spending over $100 million in initiatives aimed at wom-en, including 7,000 female restrooms throughout the city and sidewalks made

from spongey materials which are easi-er for high heel wearers to walk on. That all sounds very gracious, almost chival-rous, to most people, except when they hear of the other special initiative tar-geted at women: female parking spots. The spots, dubbed she-spots are wid-er and, better lit and not located near concrete pillars, in a silent testament to womens parking abilities. They are outlined in pink and feature a pink skirt-ed outline to mark their special status.

One Twitter user wrote: Really? What century is it in? In Triberg, Ger-many, a similar plan was scrapped a few years ago. Triberg Mayor Gallus Strobel said he was accused of male pighead-edness.

Some South Koreans are supportive of the plan, noting that the spots prox-imity to elevators and escalators at malls is a positive touch. Whether or not male drivers with poor parking skills will be fined for using the spots is unclear.

Any plans for newly-licensed teen-ager spots?

Hunting for Cash

Want $100? Start searching.A millionaire with cash to burn is

playing hide and seek with strangers in the San Francisco Bay Area. The anon-ymous man, who is a successful real es-tate investor, is hiding envelopes stuffed with greenbacks across town, waiting for people to find his hidden treasure.

People complain that the price of real estate here is pretty high and I have benefited from that, he told ABC

News. I wanted to do something fun for the city of San Francisco, something that would get people excited.

Luckily, the cash isnt hidden in random places. The donor has set up a treasure hunt by posting clues about his hiding places on Twitter. He had given away nearly $4,000 in just four daysand lucky for us, he plans on heading to New York and Los Angeles soon.

The happy finders of the cash have posted their smiling countenances on social media. Some have found their stash taped to ATMS, on parking meters or under benches.

Richard Rodriguez was one of the lucky ones. He raced to a street in San Franciscos Mission district on Sunday seconds after the Twitter account gave a hint the cash would be hidden on a parking meter there. Its about 10 blocks from us, so we did a power walk down there, he said. When we got to the parking meter it wasnt there and we thought, Wow, how could anyone have gotten here so fast? Then a guy was driving by and threw an envelope out the window. I guess he didnt even have

a chance to drop it off!Inside the envelope was $66 in cash

and a lottery ticket Rodriguez cashed in for $5.

The money was great but it was also so much fun doing something like this. It was a scavenger hunt, he said.

Its not a lot of money. Its not go-ing to change your life. But the cama-raderie it brings out in people is a lot of fun, he added.

Youre usually feeding them but today theyre feeding you was the clue that led Sergio Loza to a parking meter that held the cash. Its like a riddle, he said.

Im giving right now about a thousand a day, the very privateand funphilanthropist said. For me, thats definitely manageable. I know that for most people its more than they earn, but Im in the top 1 percent. I can keep doing this.

If hes looking for more clues, Ill gladly give him my address.

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The Week In News

Mesikus haTorah cannot be trans-mitted without understanding the im-portance of Torah. One develops a taste for the Torahs sweetness when he un-derstands its importance, said HaGaon HaRav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Slabodka, a promi-nent talmid of HaGaon HaRav Aharon Kotler, at the Acheinu Kiruv Conference in Yerushalayim. The primary vehicle for this is personal example. Seeing how important Torah is to ones Rebbe, the talmid recognizes its sweetness.

Hundreds of Roshei Yeshiva, rab-banim, and kiruv activists participat-ed in the conference focusing on kiruv rechokim and kiruv kerovim, and culti-vating that sweetness. Aside from Rav Hirsch, who gave the inspiring keynote session, the other speakers at the con-ference were HaGaon HaRav Shalom Cohen, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Porat Yosef, and Nasi of Shass Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah, as well as the Nasi of Dirshu and founder of Acheinu, Rav Dovid Hofstedter, shlita.

His Eyes Lit Up at the Word To-rah!

Rav Hirsch quoted HaGaon HaRav Yitzchok Hutner, who once said that whenever he spoke with Rav Aharon Kotler, he would steer the conversa-tion so that Rav Aharon would say the word Torah. His eyes would light up! It was clear he was talking about the greatest treasure! I would feel my love of Torah increase and my chashivus for Torah transformed. Rav Aharons own chashivus for Torah transmitted the To-rahs sweetness.

Targeted Roundtable Discussions Chaired by Expert Rabbanim

An important innovation at the Acheinu Kiruv Conference was the 30 concurrent roundtable discussions on issues that mechanchim and mekarvim face today, consisting of rabbinic au-thorities and kiruv professionals. These roundtable discussions dealt with bo-churim who have been orphaned of a parent, the transition from a baal te-shuvah yeshiva to a mainstream ye-shiva, and the transition from yeshiva ketana to yeshiva gedolah. Among the

mechanchim and rabbinic leaders were HaGeonim Rav Chizkiyahu Yosef Mish-kofsky, shlita, of Yeshiva Orchos Torah, and talmid muvhak of Rav Aharon Leib Shteiman, shlita; Rav Binyamin Finkel, shlita, Mashgiach in Mir Yerushalayim; Rav Yisroel Gans, senior RM at Yeshi-va Kol Torah, and posek of the Matters-dorf neigh

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