Presence

A Solution to the Jewish (Genealogy) Problem?

JWorld Famillion is a worldwide family project that connects Jewish people all over the world for an online family reunion. It is an advanced technological system that enlarges your detailed family tree by merging it with other family trees from all across the globe.

I'm sure this is legit, but every time I'm about to sign up for one of these things, I can't help but think this is some kind of secret Nazi-run Jew-tracking system. Like I said, I'm sure it's fine, but one can never be too careful.

Yeshivat Rambam: One Week Later

It's been just over a week since Yeshivat Rambam announced their two-school solution in an effort to attract more families and students. What has happened since then?

Rambam has held meetings with students, as well as with parents of the current eleventh grade class to discuss the changes.

A independant meeting of about fourty parents took place Tuesday night to discuss other educational options for high school students. Options discussed included Beth Tfiloh, Cardin and Yeshiva of Greater Washington (not sure if/why the school formerly known as HAGWASH was omitted). It was reported that Beth Tfiloh has no free appointments for prospective students for two weeks, and is holding a mass testing early in April. It seemed like many parents were anxious to find out more from the school about what the plan for next is going to be, and how the school will maintain or even increase the academic standards with a configuration that will undoubtedly cost more money.

The students put on a Purim shpiel at the school, which portrayed a past, present and future Yeshivat Rambam. Video is available on Facebook, and it's pretty funny. I don't know all the teachers involved, but the ones that I did recognize were very well done.

A person, or persons, unknown sprayed graffiti on the Yeshivat Rambam building that said "F*** Rambam."

The Baltimore Jewish Times has an article in this week's edition entitled "Rambam Splitting Into Two Schools." It features comments from Alex Porcelain and head of the Yeshivat Rambam debate squad, Maddy List.

The discussion on the previous post was intense, to say the least. It's hard to summarize the discussion, but it's clear there are a lot of issues here. Some are meta-issues, such as the value and place of co-education, the rightward movement of Modern Orthodoxy, the balance between secular and religious studies. Other issues are more specific: what will the actual two-school solution look like? Will more people come to the school or leave? What details will emerge at the next meeting in sixty days?

It does seem, however, that most involved in the discussion have accepted the fact that Yeshivat Rambam has to change, or die. While some would prefer to see the school close rather than change, most parents that I have spoken to, and the general evolution in tone of the comments from the previous post, indicate that many that are against the changes conceptually understand that they must be done.

I will add that I'm very impressed with all of the Yeshivat Rambam students who've commented on this blog. The fact that they confidently voiced their opinions, using their real names, and rationally debated with other commentors (most of whom were adults), shows a tremendous amount of self-confidence, courage and maturity. Thank you for participating and yiyasher kochachem.

The Awesomist Thing in the Entire World

I give you: The Gibson Robot Guitar.

To fully experience its awesomness, watch the instructional video below.

This should defintely win the Nobel Prize for awesomeness. Actually, they should just rename the "Nobel Prize" the "Robot Guitar Prize."

Exclusive Photos of Baltimore's Kosher Subway, Opening in April

I had the opportunity to talk with Harry Kozlovsky, owner and operator of the new kosher Subway opening soon in Baltimore. Harry gave me a tour of the new restaurant (pictures below) and gave me some more details on the restaurant

Baltimore's kosher Subway is hoping to open around the beginning of April (at the latest, after Pesach), with a Grand Opening, with Jared the Subway Guy, in May. The restaurant's opening has been delayed by a few months, mostly due to logisital issues relating to permits. The space has been completely remodeled with all new construction and furnishings, including seating inside for fifty, with additional seating available outside in warm weather. They plan to be open from 10AM to 9PM, as well as Saturday night's during the winter. The restaurant will also have wireless internet access available.

The Baltimore kosher Subway is certified by the Star-K; Harry told me that the Star-K is a pleasure to work with. I asked if the Star-K expressed any concern about certifying a franchise of a national brand such as Subway; he told me that they did not, and have been supportive in every way, and that they also had no issues with pareve cheese as a part of the menu. Harry also outlined the economic advantages available as a Subway franchise: many Subway items are already kosher, such as their breads and lettuce; purchasing them directly from Subway distribution results in a tremendous cost savings and insulates them from severe price fluctations (flour happens to be spiking right now, which is causing an increase in expenses for many of the area's kosher establishments). Meat suppliers are still being determined.

Harry also told me that they have plans to expand to Montgomery County in the near future. He didn't have a lot of information yet, it sounds like they are first scouting for the right location, somewhere in the Rockville/Bethesda/Silver Spring area.

Take a look at the pictures below, things are still under construction, but you get the general idea. Check back soon for more information on the opening of Baltimore's kosher Subway.

Funny Picture of the Day

Presenting: Presentations Gifts - a New Gift Store in Baltimore!

There's a new gift shop in town. Many of you are familiar with Mostly Simchas, a gift shop run by Tova Taragin and Yehudit Shields. They've been operating for almost four years out of Mrs. Taragin's garage. Now, the dynamic duo has teamed up with Ahuva Weinreb and are opening a brand-new storefront location, Presentations Gifts, right near the new Goldberg's Bagels and Salon Kids.

The store is scheduled to open the beginning of May after Pesach and will feature an expanded line of gifts, including higher end items suitable for weddings, such as serving pieces and decorative vases. The new location is six times the size of the current store, so browsing their selection of gift options will be much more enjoyable than in the current location. And if you're a big fan of the personal service and low prices offered at the current Mostly Simchas, don't worry: all the original Mostly Simchas merchandise will be available in the new store, at the same prices as before.

Along with the new store, Presentations Gifts is launching www.presentationsgifts.com, an e-commerce website that will enable online browsing and ordering of all of Presentations Gifts merchandise. The website will also have options for in-store pickup or home delivery. The site is scheduled to launch around the same time as the new store opens.

So make sure to visit Presentations Gifts in Baltimore for gifts for all occasions.

Here's a picture of the new location:

[Disclosure: two-thirds of the ownership of Presentations Gifts are my mother-in-law and sister-in-law]

The Talmud of Curb: Schwimmer's Watch

In the fourth season finale of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, Larry David is about to star as Max Bialystoyk in Mel Brook's Broadway musical, The Producers, with David Schwimmer as Leo Bloom. Before the show, Schwimmer loses his watch, which Larry finds, but then loses (or so he thinks), an argument ensues as to who is responsible for the lost watch. Later, Larry discovers that the watch was acutally stolen from him by one of the hotel workers; he recovers the watch and returns it to Schwimmer, and The Producers is a big hit (much to Mel Brooks' chagrin). See the above clip.

The question is: had the watch not been found, who would have been responsible? Would Larry have to either reimburse or replace the watch? Or is Schwimmer out of luck? Usually, things don't work out to well for Mr. David. Whose side is the law on?

Fortunately for us, this is a famous debate in the Talmud. What is the halacha when someone finds a lost object, but then that object is either lost, stolen or accidentally damaged? The Talmud, in tractate Bava Metzia, 29A (and other places) brings down the famous case of pruta d'Rav Yosef, the penny of Rav Yosef.

When one finds a lost object, one becomes a guardian over that object; ostensibly, one is an unpaid guardian, which would mean that should anything happen to the object while one has guarding it, one would not be liable. Rav Yosef, however, has a famous opinion which changes the game: Rav Yosef holds that when one guarding a lost object, since they are at times taking care that the lost object is maintained (making sure it remains functional, clean, etc.), they are considered "involved in a mitzvah", and, should they happen to be approached by a poor person asking for money while caring for the lost object, they could claim that they are exempt from the mitzvah of tzedakah, as they are involved in the mitzvah of hashovas aveidah, returning a lost object. The monetary savings, albeit insignificant and probably theoretical, do have some actual value to the guardian. When applied in this case, it turns out that, according to Rav Yosef, Larry is benefiting, however minutely, from watching over David's watch. Therefore, he is considered a shomer sachar, a paid guardian, and would be obligated to reimburse David should the watch be lost or stolen (but not if it was accidentally damaged). For those that do not hold like Rav Yosef (Rabah, in this case), Larry would simply be a shomer hinam, an unpaid guardian, in which case he would not have any responsibilities vis-a-vis the watch, and would not be obligated to pay back Mr. Schwimmer.

The Rambam, in Hilchos Gezeilah V'Avedah (13:10), holds like R. Yosef (which would mean that Larry would be on the hook for the watch); other rishonim, such as the Ri and the Rosh, hold like Rabah, that Larry was a shomer hinam and free of responsibility. The Rambam's opinion, however, is favored, and the Shulchan Aruch, in Choshen Mishpat 267:16 agrees, paskening that one who is guarding a lost object is considered like shomer sachar. As usual, things aren't looking good for Larry.

But wait! The Ramah adds that, "just as in a case of collateral, we have the same ruling here." This cryptic statement can be understood with the help of the Meiras Einaim, who explains that in a case one takes collateral on a loan, but the collateral is worth more than the value of the loan, we are uncertain if the lender is responsible for the value above the total amount of the loan in the same way as he is for the principal value. For the principal value, the lender is certainly considered a shomer schar, and would be responsible for that portion of the collateral. But the value of the collateral beyond the total amount of the loan? We aren't sure, and so we are lenient and treat him as an unpaid guardian. So to, in the case of the guardian of a lost object, we say that we are unsure, and therefore Larry would be, quite uncharacteristically, off the hook.

Happy Purim!

Yeshivat Rambam Separates Boys and Girls

I'm at Yeshivat Rambam, ther's a meeting with what are supposed to be big announcements. I'll update this post with details. Rumor is they are announcing that they will have separate buildings. More soon.

Notes from the meeting:

rambam has a growing deficit of $1 million. they contracted a consultant to analyze the school and make suggestions on how to turn things around.

jay hobby (consultant) says: enrollment is not meeting expectations, expected 50 students a year. overhead has increased, niche market is tapped out, there are no more candidate families to join the school, message is not appealing to the commuity, and is ambiguos.

vision points include committment to torah, israel, academic excellence, communal resposibility. note that this is not a vision or msion statement, just vision points. (editor's note: the original mission statement started with the term "co_educational" so this represents a significant refocusing of the school's mission/vision.)

60% of families that looked at rambam but did ot send their kids said it was because of the co_ed. stats in favor of separation of sexes. separation does not contradict any of the vision points.

what is happening: starting nexxt year boys 6-12 moving to baltimore hebrew u. classes separated from 1st grade and up. all starting next year.

more details inn 60 days at another meetings.

UPDATE: Ok, I'm home from the meeting now. Wow. Basically, the school outlined the fact that they are in dire financial straits. They have tapped out the market of families that are willing to send their kids to a co-ed Orthodox day school and can no longer grow. Without growth, there is no possibility of the school offering anything beyond what it does now, in fact, without growth the school would have to be shut down due to the mounting debt. In order to assess the situation, the school formed two groups of parents/rabbeim/rabbinical leaders to work out a vision for the school. After much discussion, both groups came to a consensus of what the vision of the school was (see vision points above). Next they looked at the marketplace (i.e. the frum community) did some research and surveys of families that had considered Rambam but decided not to send their kids to school there. They found the common denominator was the co-ed factor. The conclusion that the board reached was that in order to stimulate growth to keep the school alive, the would take measures to attract more families by further separating the boys and girls. They felt comfortable in doing this because doing so does not compromise on any of the vision points of the school (having a co-ed school is not one of the vision points).

This caused quite a stir to say the least. There were some very strong statements made at the meeting (I, personally, was shocked at some of the blatant stereotypes that were said publicly. It's embarrassing, frankly). There were also some very valid questions and concerns raised, as well as some very substantial comments in support. The school is going to present a more detailed overview of the changes in 60 days, including an outline of the executive committee that is going to be taking charge of all this.

Interesting: the kids at Rambam seem to be upset (requires Facebook login). It's interesting to read, as it seems that the kids feel that the co-ed aspect of Rambam is, to them, what sets their school apart.

My opinion, for what it's worth, is that I think it's a good thing. I'd rather have Rambam in Baltimore than not, and it's pretty clear that based on the financial numbers they presented, the school would have had to either a) make tremendous sacrifices in academics (they said an option was going K-5) to remain co-ed, b) make changes to attract more students or c) shut the school down. I think they made the right decision, and I'm hoping that those families that had previously considered Rambam but decided against it will come take another look.

I Want To See This Movie

The Forward, Haredi Life, Too Purely Rendered, reviews the film My Father, My Lord (in Hebrew, "Hofshat Kayitz").

It's not available on Netflix; if anyone in Israel knows where to get this on DVD, please get in touch.