It's still early in August and a whole lot of people wouldn't mind if August lasted another 60 days. No one really wants to give up the idea of summertime. Even for those working full time there is a somehow more relaxed attitude. I hate to be the bearer of non-summer tidings but we are now less than one month away from Rosh Hashanah and the beginning of the fall holiday season. Yup, yom tov is coming. Usually we get a bit of a respite between Labor Day and school starting and the onset of yom tov; not this year.
So yes, I'd like to remind all those who would rather not yet be reminded that there is a lot of preparation that goes into making yom tov--and this year yom tov goes straight into Shabbos. Don't want to be frazzled erev yom tov? Get some things out of the way now. At the least, make up your shopping lists/menus. Thinking of inviting company for yom tov or for some of the meals? No time like the present to do so. Are there items specific to yom tov that will need to be purchased that will do just fine waiting in your kitchen instead of on the store shelves, items such as honey? Buy now and it's one less thing to have to worry about later.
Obviously not everything can be prepared ahead but some food items can be. I finished my baking for yom tov this week--it will all taste perfectly fine after only a few weeks in the freezer, and it's one messy job that I won't have to be doing in the middle of everything else.
No time like the present to be thinking about the future, a future that will be arriving sooner than we'd like to think it will.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Seeing is Seeing
I have posted before that many of the older members of Klal have vision problems. For them reading a siddur or chumash or bencher is difficult to impossible. There are many large print seforim available. In addition, the Jewish Heritage for the Blind has such material available at no charge for those who are legally blind--an opthalmologist's written certification is necessary. All contact information is at the link as well as listings of what material is available. If someone in your family or a friend or neighbor requires this large print material, please tell them about the sources to get it. Or be a really good friend and buy them the gift of comfortable reading.
http://www.jhbinternational.org/index.html
In addition, for those who may not qualify for the free large type seforim, Art Scroll publishes a variety of siddurim and machzorim in large print editions. http://www.artscroll.com/Categories/plt.html
Note: in order to facilitate the larger print size, the size of the seforim is far larger than the regular-sized equivalents, resulting in many more pages and a heavier sefer. You may also need to keep the weight/size of the sefer in mind when choosing for an older person with vision problems.
http://www.jhbinternational.org/index.html
In addition, for those who may not qualify for the free large type seforim, Art Scroll publishes a variety of siddurim and machzorim in large print editions. http://www.artscroll.com/Categories/plt.html
Note: in order to facilitate the larger print size, the size of the seforim is far larger than the regular-sized equivalents, resulting in many more pages and a heavier sefer. You may also need to keep the weight/size of the sefer in mind when choosing for an older person with vision problems.
Friday, August 6, 2010
On Leaky Faucets and Hissing Philosophers
Some words to ponder.
"The society which scorns excellence in plumbing as a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exaulted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy... neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water."
Dr. John W. Gardner
"The society which scorns excellence in plumbing as a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exaulted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy... neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water."
Dr. John W. Gardner
Thursday, August 5, 2010
The Times Might be a'changin'
A professor on one of the professional online groups that I belong to caused something of an uproar yesterday. He teaches at a University generally located in the Southwest region of the US. His school is seriously entertaining changing college requirements for students.
Back when I was in college CUNY required 128 credits to receive a BA or BS degree. There were some colleges and universities that required 132 credits. There were a whole slew of required courses not in the major without which you could not graduate. There was virtually no way to negotiate your way out of taking the required courses, AP exams already existed, but they did not exempt you from courses the way they do today in many cases; they simply placed you into the next level of course. You still had to show the requisite number of credits in the required subject area. In addition, CUNY had a grade point minimum that had to be maintained or you could be de-registered and would not be eligible to receive a diploma. There were no formalized remedial classes in any of the subject areas.
Today the situation is quite different. Virtually every university and college finds itself giving remedial courses of one type or another to students they have already admitted. The skill level and knowledge level of many students who have been admitted to college falls far below that which was required back when I was in college. Yes, in a whole lot of cases we have seen a "dumbing down" of the college education process.
What did that professor report yesterday? His university may be going to tiered requirements for students. Those whose skill sets/knowledge sets won't meet the required minimum for admission to the "regular" college programs will be placed into a 5-year program instead of a 4-year program. They will be required to take a year of instruction specifically geared towards making up the deficits these students have in basic required subject matter and skills. If at the end of the year the students can show that they are now at "entering college" level, they will be allowed to continue in the regular 4-year programs. If they can't so demonstrate they will no longer be registered in the university. For these students there will be a 154 credit requirement to graduate with a degree.
The professor said that his university is considering this program because the caliber of many students entering college is sub-par. The university says that there are many reasons for this. One is that high schools are doing a lousy job of educating their students, particularly those who are looking to go on to college. For these students the college finds itself giving all kinds of remediation courses to cover material that should have been covered in high school while still attempting to have the students finish in 4 years. Another reason is that students in high school are being told that college is a "right" rather than a privilege and are not preparing themselves for success in college because they know they will get in anyway. A third reason was also given: there are many students who are ESL--English as a Second Language--who can't adequately perform in their classes because of English language problems in listening, speaking, understanding and writing. There are also EPL students--English as a Primary Language--whose families may speak another language at home or in social situations and again, they can't adequately perform in college because of language difficulties.
The university's possible solution to their problems is not all that radical except for one thing. Students who cannot make the grade in college because of deficits are now going to be paying for all that extra teaching the college's have to do--there is going to be another year of tuition those students will have to pay. There are those in the university who believe that the new requirements would not be "fair" to all students. Surprisingly, the teaching staff believes, for the most part, that it is a great idea. Me personally? I'd love to see this program at all colleges and universities, except perhaps the Ivies, which don't have the same problems that most other colleges do because of their more selective admission standards. I'd love to see college come back to being about being educated instead of being about grabbing a piece of paper with some letters on it.
Back when I was in college CUNY required 128 credits to receive a BA or BS degree. There were some colleges and universities that required 132 credits. There were a whole slew of required courses not in the major without which you could not graduate. There was virtually no way to negotiate your way out of taking the required courses, AP exams already existed, but they did not exempt you from courses the way they do today in many cases; they simply placed you into the next level of course. You still had to show the requisite number of credits in the required subject area. In addition, CUNY had a grade point minimum that had to be maintained or you could be de-registered and would not be eligible to receive a diploma. There were no formalized remedial classes in any of the subject areas.
Today the situation is quite different. Virtually every university and college finds itself giving remedial courses of one type or another to students they have already admitted. The skill level and knowledge level of many students who have been admitted to college falls far below that which was required back when I was in college. Yes, in a whole lot of cases we have seen a "dumbing down" of the college education process.
What did that professor report yesterday? His university may be going to tiered requirements for students. Those whose skill sets/knowledge sets won't meet the required minimum for admission to the "regular" college programs will be placed into a 5-year program instead of a 4-year program. They will be required to take a year of instruction specifically geared towards making up the deficits these students have in basic required subject matter and skills. If at the end of the year the students can show that they are now at "entering college" level, they will be allowed to continue in the regular 4-year programs. If they can't so demonstrate they will no longer be registered in the university. For these students there will be a 154 credit requirement to graduate with a degree.
The professor said that his university is considering this program because the caliber of many students entering college is sub-par. The university says that there are many reasons for this. One is that high schools are doing a lousy job of educating their students, particularly those who are looking to go on to college. For these students the college finds itself giving all kinds of remediation courses to cover material that should have been covered in high school while still attempting to have the students finish in 4 years. Another reason is that students in high school are being told that college is a "right" rather than a privilege and are not preparing themselves for success in college because they know they will get in anyway. A third reason was also given: there are many students who are ESL--English as a Second Language--who can't adequately perform in their classes because of English language problems in listening, speaking, understanding and writing. There are also EPL students--English as a Primary Language--whose families may speak another language at home or in social situations and again, they can't adequately perform in college because of language difficulties.
The university's possible solution to their problems is not all that radical except for one thing. Students who cannot make the grade in college because of deficits are now going to be paying for all that extra teaching the college's have to do--there is going to be another year of tuition those students will have to pay. There are those in the university who believe that the new requirements would not be "fair" to all students. Surprisingly, the teaching staff believes, for the most part, that it is a great idea. Me personally? I'd love to see this program at all colleges and universities, except perhaps the Ivies, which don't have the same problems that most other colleges do because of their more selective admission standards. I'd love to see college come back to being about being educated instead of being about grabbing a piece of paper with some letters on it.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
When the Stores Don't Get It
Shopping nowadays has gotten both easier and more complicated. Easier in the sense that there are far more places where we can shop for things we want or need, both online and in regular stores. More complicated in that comparison of prices is a necessity if you don't want to be overpaying, and overpaying by a lot.
I've been doing a lot of freelance work this summer and as part of that work I needed to prepare a lot of printed material. A check of our printer showed that it would be a good idea to have an extra toner cartridge in the house. I was near Staples so I walked in hoping to get the cartridge in one easy step--didn't happen. The cost of that cartridge was $126 in the store. My eyes bugged open. How much was that cartridge at Staples' online store? $123. Okay, not going to happen. My husband was working from home so I called and asked him to get online and find a cheaper source. By the time I got home he'd found the source and ordered the toner. At a reputable site a comparable cartridge to the "name brand" one sold at Staples was a whopping $29 including the shipping charges. Even if we were to surmise that the comparable cartridge was not going to give me as many copies as the more "reliable" branded one was going to give me(and in my experience they DO work just like their branded cousins), it would make no difference--the off-brand one was the best buy by far--4 for less than the price of one.
And then there was the printer paper. As I walked into the store they were showing a "mega sale" on individual packs of paper. Full price was $7.79 per pack. Minus "sales savings" that price dropped to $7.19. Minus a mail-in in-store rebate of $5.00, the price dropped to an "amazing" $2.79 per pack, limit of one pack per customer. Checking in the paper aisle I found no individual packs of printing paper of any kind that were less than $$5.69 per pack. However, if you bought a full case of paper you were going to save money--maybe. Those cases of paper all used to contain 10 individual packs of paper, so figuring the price per pack was really kind of simple. But not all of those cases contain 10 packs any more. Some of the cases have as few as 6 packs per case. The 10-pack cases were going for about $34-37 per case, a cost of $3.40 to $3.70 per pack. But those "cheaper" cases, going for $29 per case, only contained 6 packs of paper, an actual cost of $4.83 per pack.
Down the block from that Staples store Shoprite was having a school supplies sale. Printer paper was on sale for $2.71 cents a pack, limit of four. Regular price of that paper in the store? $2.99 per pack. King Kullen also had the paper on sale. Spend $25 in the store and get a pack of paper for only $.99. Regular price $2.99.
I had to be back at Staples a few days later because they are the only ones locally that carry the grading/marking book that I like using. Surprisingly the cost of the marking book was more than competitive, and I bought it. I did, however, mention to the manager who was up front by the registers that the store was not awfully competitive on a whole lot of other items. He shrugged his shoulders. Basically his comment was that the people who want the Staples "expertise" and quality merchandise aren't going to take a chance on inferior material sold at who knows where on line, and they prefer the ability to see what they are buying and get it right away. I couldn't help it--I had to laugh. I told him, politely of course, that he and his store really didn't get it if they have that attitude.
Oh that Staples were the only store that hasn't figured out yet that customers have a choice today, and many of them are using that choice to save money, money those stores are not going to see as long as they believe that they are still the only game in town.
I've been doing a lot of freelance work this summer and as part of that work I needed to prepare a lot of printed material. A check of our printer showed that it would be a good idea to have an extra toner cartridge in the house. I was near Staples so I walked in hoping to get the cartridge in one easy step--didn't happen. The cost of that cartridge was $126 in the store. My eyes bugged open. How much was that cartridge at Staples' online store? $123. Okay, not going to happen. My husband was working from home so I called and asked him to get online and find a cheaper source. By the time I got home he'd found the source and ordered the toner. At a reputable site a comparable cartridge to the "name brand" one sold at Staples was a whopping $29 including the shipping charges. Even if we were to surmise that the comparable cartridge was not going to give me as many copies as the more "reliable" branded one was going to give me(and in my experience they DO work just like their branded cousins), it would make no difference--the off-brand one was the best buy by far--4 for less than the price of one.
And then there was the printer paper. As I walked into the store they were showing a "mega sale" on individual packs of paper. Full price was $7.79 per pack. Minus "sales savings" that price dropped to $7.19. Minus a mail-in in-store rebate of $5.00, the price dropped to an "amazing" $2.79 per pack, limit of one pack per customer. Checking in the paper aisle I found no individual packs of printing paper of any kind that were less than $$5.69 per pack. However, if you bought a full case of paper you were going to save money--maybe. Those cases of paper all used to contain 10 individual packs of paper, so figuring the price per pack was really kind of simple. But not all of those cases contain 10 packs any more. Some of the cases have as few as 6 packs per case. The 10-pack cases were going for about $34-37 per case, a cost of $3.40 to $3.70 per pack. But those "cheaper" cases, going for $29 per case, only contained 6 packs of paper, an actual cost of $4.83 per pack.
Down the block from that Staples store Shoprite was having a school supplies sale. Printer paper was on sale for $2.71 cents a pack, limit of four. Regular price of that paper in the store? $2.99 per pack. King Kullen also had the paper on sale. Spend $25 in the store and get a pack of paper for only $.99. Regular price $2.99.
I had to be back at Staples a few days later because they are the only ones locally that carry the grading/marking book that I like using. Surprisingly the cost of the marking book was more than competitive, and I bought it. I did, however, mention to the manager who was up front by the registers that the store was not awfully competitive on a whole lot of other items. He shrugged his shoulders. Basically his comment was that the people who want the Staples "expertise" and quality merchandise aren't going to take a chance on inferior material sold at who knows where on line, and they prefer the ability to see what they are buying and get it right away. I couldn't help it--I had to laugh. I told him, politely of course, that he and his store really didn't get it if they have that attitude.
Oh that Staples were the only store that hasn't figured out yet that customers have a choice today, and many of them are using that choice to save money, money those stores are not going to see as long as they believe that they are still the only game in town.
Monday, August 2, 2010
In Hot Water Once Again
I have three times before posted about those hot water urns that are used on Shabbos and the fact that the majority of them, particularly the ones sold in the "frum" stores, don't have the UL on them. http://conversationsinklal.blogspot.com/2008/10/hot-water-urn-update.html
http://conversationsinklal.blogspot.com/2008/08/additional-word-about-urns.html
http://conversationsinklal.blogspot.com/2008/08/urns-are-still-among-us.html
I tried being a good samaritan and sent some letters and emails to the various anglo-Jewish publications, asking that they inform people that most of the urns are not UL approved and why they should buy only UL urns. In addition, I wrote to the company that manufactures many of those urns that you see for sale in the frum stores.
So far the response to my correspondence is zero. Not one paper decided this was important enough to even put in a small boxed item in their publication. The manufacturer never replied. I can almost understand why the manufacturer didn't reply--sales are brisk on urns and it seems obvious that people are buying them without the UL, so why bother changing.
Here's what my next step is: it's time for the smaller publications. Does your shul have a newsletter or bulletin or Internet site? Does your area have a news list? Please ask them to put in a small announcement to check that any urns have the UL and to urge people to only buy the UL urns. If you're in one of your local stores that carry the urns, and they don't have any with the UL, tell them you won't be buying from them until they start carrying UL urns, and that you'll be telling your friends not to buy either. Social networking sites are always so full of chatter--why not do your friends a good turn and post something that warns people that they are taking their lives into their hands if they buy the non-UL urns? Wondering whether you should tweet and twitter about your upset stomache or your hemorrhoids? How about a brief warning instead to only buy UL urns. And yes, please, if you are a blogger, regardless of the subject matter of your blog, please post a public service message for the frum olam about the urns.
We've got three-day shabbos/yom tov coming up. Those urns are going to be plugged in and on for three days at a shot. Sure, the non-UL urn you have now has never blown all your circuits, has never shorted out, has never had its thermostat malfunction so that it heats water above a safe temperature. Sure, the outside has never gotten so hot that it could burn you if you touch it. Sure, the circuitry seems perfectly insulated and protected. Aren't you lucky--and how unlucky others have been.
Here's the thing--Jews are forbidden to rely on miracles, and that's what you're doing when you use those non-UL urns. If you enjoy playing Russian roulette, I've got a Colt 45 to lend you. But please, stop playing the game with those urns. Please help to get the word out that urns need a UL.
http://conversationsinklal.blogspot.com/2008/08/additional-word-about-urns.html
http://conversationsinklal.blogspot.com/2008/08/urns-are-still-among-us.html
I tried being a good samaritan and sent some letters and emails to the various anglo-Jewish publications, asking that they inform people that most of the urns are not UL approved and why they should buy only UL urns. In addition, I wrote to the company that manufactures many of those urns that you see for sale in the frum stores.
So far the response to my correspondence is zero. Not one paper decided this was important enough to even put in a small boxed item in their publication. The manufacturer never replied. I can almost understand why the manufacturer didn't reply--sales are brisk on urns and it seems obvious that people are buying them without the UL, so why bother changing.
Here's what my next step is: it's time for the smaller publications. Does your shul have a newsletter or bulletin or Internet site? Does your area have a news list? Please ask them to put in a small announcement to check that any urns have the UL and to urge people to only buy the UL urns. If you're in one of your local stores that carry the urns, and they don't have any with the UL, tell them you won't be buying from them until they start carrying UL urns, and that you'll be telling your friends not to buy either. Social networking sites are always so full of chatter--why not do your friends a good turn and post something that warns people that they are taking their lives into their hands if they buy the non-UL urns? Wondering whether you should tweet and twitter about your upset stomache or your hemorrhoids? How about a brief warning instead to only buy UL urns. And yes, please, if you are a blogger, regardless of the subject matter of your blog, please post a public service message for the frum olam about the urns.
We've got three-day shabbos/yom tov coming up. Those urns are going to be plugged in and on for three days at a shot. Sure, the non-UL urn you have now has never blown all your circuits, has never shorted out, has never had its thermostat malfunction so that it heats water above a safe temperature. Sure, the outside has never gotten so hot that it could burn you if you touch it. Sure, the circuitry seems perfectly insulated and protected. Aren't you lucky--and how unlucky others have been.
Here's the thing--Jews are forbidden to rely on miracles, and that's what you're doing when you use those non-UL urns. If you enjoy playing Russian roulette, I've got a Colt 45 to lend you. But please, stop playing the game with those urns. Please help to get the word out that urns need a UL.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Chochmas Noshim
We have a posuk that states: "chochmas noshim, bonsoh baisoh"--the wisdom of women builds their houses. The draft of a speech on this topic came my way for editing and I was taken by a few of the points made, hence my sharing them with you.
First, to what does the posuk actually refer? We can take it on its most literal level to mean that a woman's wisdom builds her personal household. She is both wife and mother and her wisdom creates for her family a solid home. We can look at the statement as applying only to one woman and her highly personal home.
We can also expand the way we look at the posuk. We can look at "baisoh" as being a family line. Thus, it is the wisdom of a wife/mother that builds up a family, for now and for the future.
Expanding even further we can generalize across Klal--it is the wisdom of women that have built/are building/will build the House of Israel, that will build Klal Yisroel.
The posuk assumes the following: 1)women have chochma, 2)they can/do use that chochma for building up, a positive action, 3)women have responsibility for building up Klal Yisroel, not only men.
Even were you to apply the posuk only to the first case--building up an individual home--the chochma of women would be of incredible importance. Without the individual families of Klal having strong homes and families there would be no Klal. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Women keep those links strong and firm. And because of the relationship necessary among those links, if there is to be a chain at all, the wisdom of women has to extend outside of their own personal homes to build the greater home that is Klal.
There are so many pieces written today and so many words spoken today about how frum women have overstepped their bounds, how frum women have no place in the public arena, how frum women have no place in communal life. There are those who see the place of women as neither being seen nor being heard. There are those who question why frum women should be educated--after all, how much education does it take to cook and have babies? Even those rare few who admit that if women are going to be financially supporting their families while the husbands sit and learn they should have some "training" are quick to point out that they might be bringing in the parnoseh but that should not give them swelled heads about their importance nor should it give them ideas that they are "equal" to the menfolk.
Not be seen and not be heard? Do we hire a contractor to build us a house and then take away the tools he could use to do so? Of course not. We expect that contractor to not only have all the tools necessary to build a solid house, but to have those tools be the most modern ones available. No one today builds a house using a stone for a hammer and tiny shards of iron as nails. We expect that that contractor will be experienced and will have gotten the full training necessary.
How much more important is the building of the homes and families of Klal. For us to survive as one "house," we have to have solid foundations that will support us, that will allow us to grow as we should. All those "contractors" who put down the role of women in building Klal? They're building houses on shifting sands, missing huge chunks of the foundation.
Yes indeed, chochmas noshim bonsoh baisoh--an idea to be celebrated and to be thankful for.
First, to what does the posuk actually refer? We can take it on its most literal level to mean that a woman's wisdom builds her personal household. She is both wife and mother and her wisdom creates for her family a solid home. We can look at the statement as applying only to one woman and her highly personal home.
We can also expand the way we look at the posuk. We can look at "baisoh" as being a family line. Thus, it is the wisdom of a wife/mother that builds up a family, for now and for the future.
Expanding even further we can generalize across Klal--it is the wisdom of women that have built/are building/will build the House of Israel, that will build Klal Yisroel.
The posuk assumes the following: 1)women have chochma, 2)they can/do use that chochma for building up, a positive action, 3)women have responsibility for building up Klal Yisroel, not only men.
Even were you to apply the posuk only to the first case--building up an individual home--the chochma of women would be of incredible importance. Without the individual families of Klal having strong homes and families there would be no Klal. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Women keep those links strong and firm. And because of the relationship necessary among those links, if there is to be a chain at all, the wisdom of women has to extend outside of their own personal homes to build the greater home that is Klal.
There are so many pieces written today and so many words spoken today about how frum women have overstepped their bounds, how frum women have no place in the public arena, how frum women have no place in communal life. There are those who see the place of women as neither being seen nor being heard. There are those who question why frum women should be educated--after all, how much education does it take to cook and have babies? Even those rare few who admit that if women are going to be financially supporting their families while the husbands sit and learn they should have some "training" are quick to point out that they might be bringing in the parnoseh but that should not give them swelled heads about their importance nor should it give them ideas that they are "equal" to the menfolk.
Not be seen and not be heard? Do we hire a contractor to build us a house and then take away the tools he could use to do so? Of course not. We expect that contractor to not only have all the tools necessary to build a solid house, but to have those tools be the most modern ones available. No one today builds a house using a stone for a hammer and tiny shards of iron as nails. We expect that that contractor will be experienced and will have gotten the full training necessary.
How much more important is the building of the homes and families of Klal. For us to survive as one "house," we have to have solid foundations that will support us, that will allow us to grow as we should. All those "contractors" who put down the role of women in building Klal? They're building houses on shifting sands, missing huge chunks of the foundation.
Yes indeed, chochmas noshim bonsoh baisoh--an idea to be celebrated and to be thankful for.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)