Dan Ben-Simchon keeps hope alive
It’s a miracle, it’s a victory, it’s … a world record? Five-year-old Dan Ben-Simchon was chosen by lottery to push the first domino in a 25,000-domino rally that incorporated a menorah into its design at the Israel Museum. The greatest Chanukah miracle of all? Despite sitting dangerously close to the domino artwork on the floor, several Israeli children demonstrated enough self-restraint not to topple any before the appointed time.
Na’ama Margolis lights a fire
Lots of kids deal with bullying in school, but rarely are the perpetrators older men in kippot and tzizit. Na’ama Margolis, an 8-year-old girl from Beit Shemesh, Israel, told an Israeli TV reporter that she was afraid to walk the 300 yards from her home to her school because haredi men threw eggs and bags of excrement at her and called her names. The report sparked international outrage and led to a massive protest in her hometown on Tuesday.
Eric Dondero adds to Ron Paul’s troubles
Ron Paul’s controversial positions on Israel and Iran haven’t stopped him from surging to the top of the Iowa polls, but they have drawn rebukes from fellow Republican presidential hopefuls and outraged Jewish conservatives. This week, Eric Dondero, a Jewish former aide to Paul, added some fuel to the fire, insisting in an online essay that his former boss is no racist or anti-Semite. He did, however, allege that Paul is anti-Israel and “strenuously does not believe the United States had any business getting involved in fighting Hitler.” While Paul’s campaign dismissed Dondero, his essay is the latest headache for a candidate dogged by questions about why newsletters containing racist, anti-gay and anti-Israel rants were being sent out under his name for years. [[READMORE]]
Daniel Retter compiles a list
For 1,500 years, Jews have probed the 63 volumes of the Talmud in search of wisdom and religious guidance. But one thing the monumental work has lacked is a convenient topical index — until now. Daniel Retter, an immigration attorney from New York, has compiled the first index of the Talmud, featuring 6,600 topical entries and 27,000 subtopical entries. And if you find a mistake, there’s a distinctly modern recourse: email the publisher.
Yuval Gialchensky separates twins
Dr. Yuval Gialchensky, a senior doctor at the maternity ward at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, saved the lives of two Siamese twins who were dying from deficiencies in their blood supply inside the womb of a 25-year-old Palestinian woman. Using a laser device and a small catheter, Gialchensky performed an innovative in utero procedure, burning the women’s placenta and splitting it into two parts — one for each baby.
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