I do not know if there is any significance to the order of the list, but CNN has published a list of world sites that are on the verge of extinction.

the number one item in the list, and I do not know if the fact that it is number one means it is the closest to extinction or not, is the Old City of Jerusalem.


CNN explains that the reason this site is on the verge of extinction is because of the political tensions no preservation work can be done on the site. It actually shows the picture above of Temple mount - Dome of the Rock but CNN lists it as the Old City of Jerusalem.

I find it hard to believe the Old City of Jerusalem is going to disappear any time soon. Chances of it being destroyed in war are probably greater than the chances of it just going extinct...

Update - even better news now. Ahava just announced that Tesaro has just unblinded her records and her medical team has the information they need! 

Yasher koach to everybody. It had an effect. Hopefully it will be resolved quickly



and in text:

Thanks to everyone for this campaign to get Tesaro to do the right thing. I already said we are touched by all of this, but perhaps that word does not do our feelings justice. Our minds are blown by the levels of support.
Please take this as a personal thank you to EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU who took the time to post about this, sign a petition, email Tesaro, message us with advice or help in some other way. If we had the time and strength to message you all individually, we surely would.
No doubt as a result of pressure from the wonderful team at Shaarei Tzedek and the social media campaigns of which many of you have taken part, Tesaro have promised to "shortly" provide the information to.Ahava Emunah Lange's oncologist in order to initiate the unblinding process.
This is a really promising development, and we sincerely hope Tesaro do as they have promised and "shortly" really is shortly.

Former finance minister MK Yair Lapid, chairman of Yesh Atid, joins VOI's Dov Lipman, a former MK from his party.
Lapid says he entered the political world as part of a spiritual quest to do something meaningful for himself, his children and his state. He discusses his party; his tenure as finance minister; foreign affairs; issues of religion and state; and his family.

this is a painful satire piece on the phenomenon of forgetting  babies in the car... basically, find some way to ensure as well as possible that you won't forget your kid...

"3 Weeks" Music alert...

this is a new song by Yaakov Shwekey...
Almost twenty years ago my wife Jenine and her best friend started The Special Children's Center from a one-room apartment. Back then they were just teenagers with a dream to change the world, one child at a time. They felt a tremendous need for special children to have a place to flourish, to receive the care and attention they need, and to wrap it up in happiness. With the help of so many believers, that endeavor grew into a multi faceted Center for more than three hundred special children across three locations. While there is no end to the demand, there is also no end to their determination. While traveling and performing all over the world for the last fifteen years I’ve seen with my own eyes the gift that music can give and the depths it can reach. The power is within every one of us… you can be anything, no matter what challenges you face. That is the magic of love, and the magic of this song. It is for you, the children and staff of the Center, and for you, all children around the world -- each of you is precious, you can be anything. This song is for you.

--Yaakov Shwekey

A friend of mine, and fellow Bet Shemesh resident, has been in recovery from Ovarian Cancer. Yet the cancer is back.

Ahava cannot get treatment now. Because of the medicine she took before. And because of their obstinance in breaking their contract with their patient.

In the words of Joshua Strahl, who put it so well:

Dear Tesaro Pharmaceuticals, you are in business to find ways to save lives.That's noble.And you are conducting a blind test (drug vs. placebo) to show your drug's efficacy. That's scientific methodology.Part of your contract with the patient undergoing the clinical trial is that if it becomes medically necessary you will reveal to the doctors if the patient was receiving your drug or a placebo.That's human.But, here my friend and neighbor Ahava Emunah Lange is Patient 1, and the drug that she is taking in your trial is not working. Her Ovarian Cancer has returned.Now, if she was on your real drug then her oncologists would know that that chemical is not working for her and they would switch her to a different drug. BUT, if she was on the placebo, then her oncologists would try the chemical that she was supposedly taking during the trial. Releasing this information to her doctors does not invalidate the trials results - we know that she did not react to whatever she was taking. Either the chemical didn't work or the placebo didn't work for her. If her doctors are not informed they cannot move ahead with her treatment, and my friend will die.So, your scientific methodology has been preserved.The question remains: are you in the business of saving lives?Will you honor your commitments to a human?Will you do the noble thing here?We hope that you will, because we are passionate about saving our friend Ahava.

There is a petition to sign to try to pressure Tesaro Pharmaceuticals to release the information to Ahava's doctors, as they are contractually obligated to. If the doctors do not get this information, Ahava will not be able to receive any treatment and will die.

Please sign and share the petition

Ahava wrote a bit about it herself, including showing the clause in the contract in which they commit to giving the information should it be medically necessary...

If you are in a position to help somehow, please do. If not, please share. Maybe someone who reads it from my share or your share or by someone who shared it after seeing it from you, will be the person who can have some influence on the matter. Maybe a massive amount of public posts about this will shame them into releasing the information they contractually agreed to release!

This is a matter of life or death.

Ahava Emuna bat Chava Ehta

There is a lot of criticism against Aryeh Deri for pushing through the reversal of the conversion law and the transferring of the system of dayanim back to the PMO from the Justice Ministry, as had been agreed upon during the coalition negotiations. The criticism is also against those who support Deri and these new laws, and those who just did not make a big deal out of it.

Apparently, nobody who supports Deri's action on this, as well as those who don't actively oppose it, don't care about the state of Judaism. They don't care about converts. They are not interested. They are happy to be mean to potential converts, to chase them away.

Nobody holds the monopoly on caring about Judaism and/or converts. Just because someone does something differently it does not mean they do not care, but they have a different solution, maybe taking into account different factors.

Maybe Aryeh Deri does not care about converts and Judaism. Maybe all he cares about is jobs and power for his friends and relatives.

Or maybe Aryeh Deri also does care about Judaism. Maybe Aryeh Deri does care about converts. Maybe he just has a different way about solving the issues.

I have no problem disagreeing with Aryeh Deri's methods - I am definitely no fan of his, or the methods of anybody else for that matter. I just do not think the criticism is fair, claiming he does not care about Judaism or converts just because he does not agree with the solutions of those critics. I would posit that he does care but just does not agree with the other solutions (such as the law passed by Elazar Stern and Yair Lapid) and believes his own solutions are better.

This is the silliest/strangest story I have heard about a Rav Kanievsky "miracle" in a while... the article actually has a few, but I am pointing to one of them in particular..

Kikar is relating the following story as a miracle performed that occurred as a result of a bracha by Rav Chaim Kanievsky..

A yeshiva bochur in a top yeshiva was having difficulty finding a spouse. He went to Rav Kanievsky for a bracha and even told the rav that he had been there previously and has done everything recommended by the rav yet is still having difficulty and has not yet merited to get engaged and married.

Rav Kanievsky, instead of giving him another bracha or set of instructions, wondered aloud increduously " what do you expect me to do - tell you to go to the roof and jump  up and down a thousand times"?

This bochur actually went up to the roof, jumped up and down a thousand times. Lo and behold, a week later he got engaged!

I do not know if this is an amazing story of emunas chachomim, a silly story or just a weird piece of fiction...

German NGO organizes 'Rent a Jew' program

  -- JPost

as long as they pay retail for their Jews all is good..