Purim basically begins on Rosh Chodesh Adar in Israel-with kids already in costume almost daily. There are a number of wonderful volunteer opportunities that you can participate in this week. One in particular that I recommend is to deliver Mishloach Manot at the Diplomat Hotel in the Talpiot neighborhood of Jerusalem. This "hotel" is home to over 400 immigrants from Eastern Europe who for whatever reason fell through the cracks and have been living in cramped hotel rooms for years and are very isolated. There is nothing like the feeling of handing a package to someone and receiving a smile, a piece of candy, and a warm greeting! For more information about this contact me at: here4theyear@gmail.com
Remember, Purim is not just about drinking... Purim is about 'Matanot l'evyonim', hearing the megillah and having a meaningful seudah.
Please read this piece recently published in the YU Commentator
Purim Sameach
Monday, February 22, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Be Aware of Mumps Break Out
We have all been aware of the recent threat of Swine Flu. The Israel Health Ministry has made flu shots available to foreign visitors (see our website-: www.here4theyear.com for details)
It has now come to our attention that there has been an outbreak of Mumps in Israel. It might be a good idea to check your child's immunization record and/or have your child have a simple blood test to check to make sure that he/she is immunized.
Feel free to contact us at: here4theyear@gmail.com for any assistance.
Read the following article:
CDC: Largest Outbreak of Mumps Since 2006 in New York, New Jersey More than 1,000 people in New York and New Jersey, many of them adolescent Orthodox Jews, have been sickened with mumps since August of last year. The outbreak began at a summer camp for boys in Sullivan, NY, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Orange County NY has the greatest number of cases. Almost 500 have been confirmed since early November. Neighboring Rockland County has 317 confirmed cases. In New York City, 79 cases have been documented in Brooklyn. Another 159 had spread to Ocean County, NJ. The CDC expects to announce more cases this week. The cases have been linked back to an 11-year-old boy who was at the camp. He had recently returned from the United Kingdom, where a mumps outbreak had spread to 4,000 people. Approximately 25 of the children were his bunk-mates, who then brought the virus home to their communities. Mumps is a contagious viral disease that leads to a painful swelling of the salivary glands. Symptoms include face pain, fever, headache, sore throat, and swelling of the face, particularly the temples or jaw. In males, additional symptoms can include scrotal swelling or a painful lump in the testicles. Once contracted, there is no specific treatment for mumps except for pain relief. Mumps most commonly occurs in children ages 2 to 12 who have not been vaccinated, however the infection can occur at any age. The MMR vaccine – protecting against measles, mumps and rubella – is given twice in childhood. The first is given between 12 and 15 months of age. The second vaccine is generally give between the ages of 4 and 6. The CDC states that about 75% of the children in this most recent mumps outbreak were vaccinated appropriately. However, the vaccine is not 100% effective. According to Dr. Jane Zucker, assistant commissioner of immunization, “We know that approximately one in every 20 people who are vaccinated may not develop antibodies.” Recently, the MMR vaccination has been in the news due to the retraction by the journal Lancet that previously implicated the vaccine as a potential cause of autism. Some parents choose not to vaccinate children for this reason. Writing for the Jewish Action Online, a magazine of the Orthodox Union, Dr. Reichman, an associate professor of emergency medicine, philosophy and history of medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, says that parents in the Orthodox Jewish community are no more or less likely to avoid the MMR vaccination for their children.
It has now come to our attention that there has been an outbreak of Mumps in Israel. It might be a good idea to check your child's immunization record and/or have your child have a simple blood test to check to make sure that he/she is immunized.
Feel free to contact us at: here4theyear@gmail.com for any assistance.
Read the following article:
CDC: Largest Outbreak of Mumps Since 2006 in New York, New Jersey More than 1,000 people in New York and New Jersey, many of them adolescent Orthodox Jews, have been sickened with mumps since August of last year. The outbreak began at a summer camp for boys in Sullivan, NY, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Orange County NY has the greatest number of cases. Almost 500 have been confirmed since early November. Neighboring Rockland County has 317 confirmed cases. In New York City, 79 cases have been documented in Brooklyn. Another 159 had spread to Ocean County, NJ. The CDC expects to announce more cases this week. The cases have been linked back to an 11-year-old boy who was at the camp. He had recently returned from the United Kingdom, where a mumps outbreak had spread to 4,000 people. Approximately 25 of the children were his bunk-mates, who then brought the virus home to their communities. Mumps is a contagious viral disease that leads to a painful swelling of the salivary glands. Symptoms include face pain, fever, headache, sore throat, and swelling of the face, particularly the temples or jaw. In males, additional symptoms can include scrotal swelling or a painful lump in the testicles. Once contracted, there is no specific treatment for mumps except for pain relief. Mumps most commonly occurs in children ages 2 to 12 who have not been vaccinated, however the infection can occur at any age. The MMR vaccine – protecting against measles, mumps and rubella – is given twice in childhood. The first is given between 12 and 15 months of age. The second vaccine is generally give between the ages of 4 and 6. The CDC states that about 75% of the children in this most recent mumps outbreak were vaccinated appropriately. However, the vaccine is not 100% effective. According to Dr. Jane Zucker, assistant commissioner of immunization, “We know that approximately one in every 20 people who are vaccinated may not develop antibodies.” Recently, the MMR vaccination has been in the news due to the retraction by the journal Lancet that previously implicated the vaccine as a potential cause of autism. Some parents choose not to vaccinate children for this reason. Writing for the Jewish Action Online, a magazine of the Orthodox Union, Dr. Reichman, an associate professor of emergency medicine, philosophy and history of medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, says that parents in the Orthodox Jewish community are no more or less likely to avoid the MMR vaccination for their children.
New Gap Year Program for the 2010
Just read that Aish Hatorah is introducing a new IDF-Mahal program for the coming school which will also be open to seniors in high school. Could this be an initial move following the article in the Jewish Week?
We think it is great that programs hopefully are beginning to look "out of the box" a bit.
Here is the Aish HaTorah program announcement:
We think it is great that programs hopefully are beginning to look "out of the box" a bit.
Here is the Aish HaTorah program announcement:
Aish HaTorah has developed an exciting new IDF-Machal program that is different than previous IDF-Machal programs. High School Seniors can now enlist in a 12 month Machal Program that will enable them to return home in time to start college by the following Fall Semester. Previous Machal programs required 14 months service in the IDF in addition to 2 months pre-enlistment training and an additional 2 months for pre-training
application (18 months total). Those programs meant that candidates enlisting in the IDF always had to devote 18 months to the process and miss starting college in the fall a year after graduating high school. They
could only start in the Spring of the following year.
Aish's program offers two start dates and both will enable students to
begin college a year after graduation from high school. The program
includes pre-enlistment training of two months and a 12 month enlistment in
the IDF. For details please contact:
Rabbi Baruch Tretiak: btretiak@aish.com . +972-52-860-0062
A.Y. Katsof: akatsof@aish.com . +972-526-231-421
Marty Schlakman: mschlakman@optonline.net . +1-201-841-7048
Saul Levy: saul@geotonusaa.com . +1-201-927-9444
More on the Gap Year
Daniella and I wrote a response to the article in the Jewish Week
http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c53_a17832/Editorial__Opinion/Letter.html
Persistent Problem
by Debra Weiner-Solomont and Daniella Peyser
The article “Fast Times At Gap Year High” (Jan. 15) only brought to light what we, professionals and families living in Israel, have been saying for years. In April 2000, a conference on “Students at Risk” featured a session on “Substance Abuse in the Yeshivot.” (The transcript of the workshop can be found at www.atid.org/events/clinicalviews.rtf.)
The issues of drug abuse, unsupervised free time, and lack of motivation on the part of yeshiva administrators can be found in this transcript — and this conference took place 10 years ago. After all these years, the questions that needs to be asked are: Why do young people come to Israel and feel that they can conduct a lifestyle with total disregard of rules, and what is expected
of them?
The behavior manifested by these young people is indicative of a sense of entitlement arising from a generation of affluence and of never hearing the word “no” from parents. Unfortunately, it seems that a generation has grown up with a lack of responsibility or accountability.
Compare day school students from the U.S. to their Israeli peers, who are preparing for army service. In addition, there is little or no opportunity for the Americans to learn about and experience Israeli culture. There are a number of yeshivas that house both an Israeli and an American program, but with no integration between them.
After the pressures of high school and college applications, the U.S. youngsters find themselves in Israel, where the drinking age is 18 (although that may soon change) where there are no longer grades or pressure to get into college, and little adult supervision. Israel is like a candy store. One cannot compare this to being a freshman in college. Sure, college kids also go out, get drunk etc., but once your child gets his or her first D in a class, the “party is over.” In Israel there is absolutely no accountability, so the party can continue all year.
The bottom line is that the programs need to change with the times, the high schools need to re-evaluate their programs during the senior year and parents need to be more informed about where they are sending their children.
Jerusalem
The writers are founders of a Web site to provide support and informational services to American young people and their families, www.here4theyear.com.
http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c53_a17832/Editorial__Opinion/Letter.html
Persistent Problem
by Debra Weiner-Solomont and Daniella Peyser
The article “Fast Times At Gap Year High” (Jan. 15) only brought to light what we, professionals and families living in Israel, have been saying for years. In April 2000, a conference on “Students at Risk” featured a session on “Substance Abuse in the Yeshivot.” (The transcript of the workshop can be found at www.atid.org/events/clinicalviews.rtf.)
The issues of drug abuse, unsupervised free time, and lack of motivation on the part of yeshiva administrators can be found in this transcript — and this conference took place 10 years ago. After all these years, the questions that needs to be asked are: Why do young people come to Israel and feel that they can conduct a lifestyle with total disregard of rules, and what is expected
of them?
The behavior manifested by these young people is indicative of a sense of entitlement arising from a generation of affluence and of never hearing the word “no” from parents. Unfortunately, it seems that a generation has grown up with a lack of responsibility or accountability.
Compare day school students from the U.S. to their Israeli peers, who are preparing for army service. In addition, there is little or no opportunity for the Americans to learn about and experience Israeli culture. There are a number of yeshivas that house both an Israeli and an American program, but with no integration between them.
After the pressures of high school and college applications, the U.S. youngsters find themselves in Israel, where the drinking age is 18 (although that may soon change) where there are no longer grades or pressure to get into college, and little adult supervision. Israel is like a candy store. One cannot compare this to being a freshman in college. Sure, college kids also go out, get drunk etc., but once your child gets his or her first D in a class, the “party is over.” In Israel there is absolutely no accountability, so the party can continue all year.
The bottom line is that the programs need to change with the times, the high schools need to re-evaluate their programs during the senior year and parents need to be more informed about where they are sending their children.
Jerusalem
The writers are founders of a Web site to provide support and informational services to American young people and their families, www.here4theyear.com.
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