Presence

From Sunday's Baltimore Sun, an article entitled Subsidy cuts send students from yeshivas to outside jobs:

Growing up as a member of Israel's ultra-Orthodox community, Eli Louzoun had a life as traditional as his conservative black hat and dress. Cloistered in his yeshiva, he spent his days poring over religious texts and supported his family with a small government stipend. He never earned a high school diploma or held a job. So dedicated to his spiritual life, he shunned television, sports and exercise. He never even learned how to swim.

But these days you're more likely to find Louzoun at a swimming pool than in the yeshiva. He's a newly trained aqua therapist, a type of physical therapist specializing in water exercises to help treat patients with physical disabilities.

Read the whole thing, it's well-written, from an unbiased perspective, and anecdotally makes a few very important and cogent points. My thoughts: It's working.