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Jewish Journal

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June 6, 2014

‘Orange is the New Black’ season 2 pre-cap: Standing still is hard

Leave a Comment / Entertainment, Hollywood, Is Featured?, Mobile, Mobile-Homepage, News /

Season 2 of Orange is the New Black, a Netflix original series from the brilliant Jenji Kohan and based on the memoir by Piper Kerman, was released today. Chances are you’ve heard of it. This show is so important for so many reasons, not least because it’s hilarious, so for those needing a reminder to cancel weekend plans and scour Eat24 for delivery deals, here’s my non-exhaustive though no less shameless flattering of a S2 pre-cap.

The show left off on the night of the Christmas play. Tiffany Doggett (Taryn Manning), or Pennsatucky as she’s affectionately called, had followed Piper (Taylor Schilling) through the back door, spotting her chance to make good on God’s will and carry out the exorcism of Piper Chapman. Manning, a usual casting suspect in these more distressed types of roles (Hustle and Flow), is a force of a half-pint and owns the seductive, charismatic piece of walking white trash effortlessly.

Ms. Tucky is many things: A leader, a visionary, a pugnacious jailhouse messiah, a Bible-thumping gnarl-toothed maniac who puts the Westboro clan to shame. But to Piper, she’s a both a pariah and a massive existential threat, physically, spiritually and psychologically. Because the things she’s not — codependent, insecure, at the mercy of a WASP complex — are all Piper trademarks, the culmination of which are coming home to roost. Try as she might to dismiss Doggett as crazy, Tucky truth is stranger than fiction.

Only days had passed since Larry's (Jason Biggs) Hail Mary proposal to tie the knot with Piper before she’d served her sentence, and she was settling into this recently hedged bet when a call to him had thwarted the whole thing.

His secret rendezvous with Alex, Piper’s ex-girlfriend-in-residency (played by a punked-out sexpot Laura Prepon — who, after some threatening contractual issues, is back for part of Season 2 and most of the presumed Season 3), laid painful cement on ground he knew in the most vulnerable corners of his heart was far from unpaved. Pipes was not blameless in her infidelity after all, and he’s tired of treading her emotional wave pool. The wedding is off, indefinitley. Alex won’t look at her — “Never Again” still singeing her ears and searing her heart. Piper is completely derailed.

“You’re not worthy of God’s love. You’re not worthy of nobody’s love,” Pennsatucky declares. It’s when Tucky delivers these words from on high that Piper goes full Pacquiao on her, the symbolic sounds of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” closing out the season finale.

An overarching theme of the show deals with the painful process of intimate self-reflection, coming face to face with who you really are when the distractions of free citizenry are left on the other side of the bars and fellow inmates see right through your charades, mastered though they may be. Self-deception is comfortable and Piper is having a tough time with these new rules, and how Season 2 explores the consequences of aforementioned roosting will further drive home the show’s societal and individual relevancy.

Keeping in mind that much of Orange’s rich soul is born from first disarming then flipping our preconceived/misconceived realities on their heads, is the Pornstache report. Officer George “Pornstache” Mendez, played by a deliciously barbaric Pablo Schreiber, wound up a favorite antihero toward the later half of 2013’s Orange craze. He’s a sadistic clown looking out for No. 1., evidenced by more than just his closet-hosed cover-up of Tricia’s (Madeline Brewer) tragic overdose and what’s become of poor Red (Kate Mulgrew). He wears his mustache namesake proud and his misogynistic loneliness on his sleeve, and given our especially ” target=”_blank”>epitome of class and elegance, and women everywhere should strive to be half the woman she is. 

There’s a scene in the Season 1 episode “Blood Donut,” where Piper takes it upon herself to ” target=”_blank”>@meldoinwell.

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Pooled Special Needs Trust: Leveraging the Power of Community

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It’s not unusual for parents of children with special needs to lose sleep worrying about what will happen to their child when the parents aren’t around. How can they ensure that their adult child will be safe and happy? Will their adult child have the support and resources they need to live a full life?

A key financial tool to set aside funding for relatives with significant physical, mental, cognitive, and developmental disabilities without jeopardizing vital government benefits is an individual Special Needs Trust. But for many middle-class parents, the cost of setting up this type of Trust with a private attorney and paying yearly costs can be out of reach. Plus, there is the issue of who to appoint as the Trustee after the parents have gone on to their Great Reward in the Sky (which I sure hope involves dark chocolate and back massages).

An alternative to the individual route is a Pooled Special Needs Trust, which “pools” the resources of many beneficiaries for investment purposes, and those resources are required by federal law to be managed by a non-profit association, which becomes the Trustee for all beneficiaries enrolled. Money is typically spent down slowly, averaging an industry standard of 4% to ensure that funding is available over the beneficiary's lifetime.

All funds from the Pooled Special Needs are paid directly to a third-party, never touching the social security account of the beneficiary. Funds can be used to pay for the needs of the beneficiary outside of rent and food, such as out-of-pocket medical expenses, care management, travel/recreation and purchasing a car, computer or wheelchair. Hundreds of these Trusts exist nationally, with nine operating in California, but none are headquartered in Los Angeles County, and none in California have a Jewish perspective.

With funding from the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, Bet Tzedek is conducting a Community Needs Assessment about how a Pooled Special Needs Trust can provide a safe and legal way of setting aside money for a loved one with a disability and is researching the level of interest in Los Angeles in establishing a local Pooled Special Needs Trust that would be focused on the Jewish community.

If you are interested in learning more this Pooled Special Needs Trust project, please join me next Wednesday, June 11th at 7:30 pm at B’nai David Judea, 8906 Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, 90035. This event is co-sponsored with JFS/Chaverim and ETTA.

But, please, please RSVP to let us know you are coming. Just send an email to LAPooledTrust@gmail.com or leave a voicemail message at (323) 549-5835.

Together, we can build a stronger community! And also get some extra sleep…

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How to Find the Best Real Estate for Your Business

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The right location is key to the success of your business, especially if you are going to be selling products or services directly to consumers. Being in the right place will ensure people see your business and know that you exist. This alone can generate a lot of walk-in business that can then turn into repeat clients who ensure your longevity in whatever industry you work in.

It is important to note that the first property you find for your new business could be the difference between it being successful and never taking off. But finding the right real estate can be challenging, especially for new business owners who have to deal with high overhead costs and rental fees. So how can you go about searching for prime real estate for your company without having to sacrifice your bottom line? Continue reading for some useful tips that will help you get started.

The Type of Business You Operate will Dictate Its Location

Think about where your customers are. If you're running a real estate company like eBergen County Homes in a saturated real estate market with a lot of competition, you will really need to put yourself front and centre on a main street or avenue where potential customers will be able to see you and also where real estate agents will be able to find you if they are in search of employment.

In the same way, if you are planning on opening a retail establishment, you need to consider shopping centres and strip malls that get a lot of foot traffic every day. Never put a retail store in an area that is residential without a lot of cars going by, for example, as no one will know that you are there except the people who live near the store, and that's no way to build up a profitable business.

Hire the Right Real Estate Agent

Although it may be tempting to try to find your business's real estate on your own by browsing through listings online or in the newspaper, the very best way to find the hidden gems that you may never be able to locate on your own is by hiring a reputable real estate agent. This is especially important in densely populated areas where there is a lot of competition for commercial real estate.

Certain areas of the country will be more expensive as a result of their continued stability economically. Midland Park real estate in New Jersey is still quite expensive. This town is an example of a suburban area that has been doing very well and whose commercial and residential real estate is desirable. Big cities like New York or Los Angeles are also sure to still have plenty of commercial property for those who are doing well and can expand into larger locations or start new businesses.

But, again, finding these properties and getting the best deals is ideally done under the guidance of a real estate agent. And the right real estate agent will also be able to advise you on what type of property, in what location, your company would benefit from most.

Get the Right Lease

Leasing a property for your business is an exciting time because you now know that you can finally move forward and begin to meet all of the goals that you have set for yourself in your business plan. But before you sign on the dotted line, you should be absolutely certain that the lease agreement is one that will work in your favour. For example, if you find that the property does not actually work for your business after all, will you be able to break the lease? Will you be able to leave and rent out the space to someone else if you are unable to get out of the lease completely?

To ensure you are getting the very best deal on your lease, have a real estate lawyer look it over for you and discuss the potential risks you may run into if you sign it. Once you get clearance and you are sure that you will be able to get out of a lease that no longer works for you, even before the lease expires, you can go ahead and sign with confidence.

Finding commercial real estate anywhere in the world is a lot harder than finding residential properties. You have to consider what your company is all about, where your customers are, how easy it will be for your clients to find you, how much space you need, and what you can actually afford. Planning ahead, answering all of these questions, and knowing what you want will assist you when it comes to hiring an agent who will help you locate the very best property for your company.

How to Find the Best Real Estate for Your Business Read More »

A Sense of Obligation

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By Rabbi Mark Borovitz

I have been on a mission these past few weeks to regain my addiction to Redemption. I believe that there is no better way to be redeemed than to remember our obligations. We OWE! How do I know this? I know this because I was taught this by my father, Jerry Borovitz, z”l. I was having a conversation with a friend of mine last week and when this subject came up, he looked at me and said, “The issue is, where are the fathers?” I have been thinking about this all week.

Many years ago, I was upset with life and my brother Neal reminded me that I had a debt to my father to stay in touch, because he did. He reminded me that my feelings were not as important as my debts to friends, family, and God. I am still struck by this idea. I know that my father lived a life of obligation because it made him a better man, father, son, brother, uncle, etc. I know that my debts make me stop and think about, “what is the next right action?”

Yet, many people are aghast at this concept. I owe the stranger, the widow, the orphan and the poor because others have helped me when I was/am in each of these phases. I owe the rich, the friend, the family, and the community member my best in the moment because my family, my Torah, and my Judaism has taught me this. I have had many discussions about this concept and how to live it in the past few weeks.

In light of this week’s terrible turnout to vote and the rest of the year’s incredible complaining about our elected officials, I realize how many people don’t believe or aren’t taught this lesson of “owing.” What right do I have to complain about others when I am not participating in the electoral process? As any person who has come from a totalitarian system will tell you, it is a blessing to be able to vote. My 9th Grade Civics Teacher, Ed Roach, taught us that, “the right to vote is our responsibility to vote.” Mr. Roach understood the power of “owing/obligation.” How can I redeem my people (all people) if I don’t participate? How can I truly participate if I don’t have a sense of obligation/owing and realize that “it is not my responsibility to finish the work and neither am I free to nullify it!” This is from Pirke Avot and it is a prime example of this concept of owing.

I love Israel and I love Jews! I love Truth and I love God. I love my family, my community and, slowly, I am coming to love my enemies. If we believe in living a Jewish Life, if we believe in the need to be engaged in and Addicted to Redemption, then taking on the Yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven and paying our debts and being obligated to Living Well and ensuring the Living Well of others has to become our top priority. God Bless and Keep Owing and Paying.

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Peres congratulates al-Sisi on victory in Egyptian elections

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Israeli President Shimon Peres congratulated the newly elected president of Egypt, Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, on winning the elections.

During Peres’ telephone conversation Friday with al-Sisi, Peres stressed “Israel’s commitment to maintain the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt and strengthening the cooperation between the countries,” Peres’ office said in a statement.

Peres wished the Egyptian people “prosperity and success and expressed his hope that President al-Sisi will lead Egypt to great achievements,” the statement read.

The statement did not say what al-Sisi said in reply, except that he “thanked President Peres for his warm words.”

Al-Sisi was officially confirmed as Egypt’s next president on Tuesday evening, after the country’s electoral commission announced that he had won 96.1 percent of last week’s presidential runoff.

Al-Sisi is slated to be sworn in as president on Sunday, in a ceremony to which dozens of foreign heads of state have been invited – including the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, according to Iran’s Fars news agency.

In 2012, Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood was elected president in an internationally supervised election that drew 52 percent of Egypt’s voters to the polls, but lasted less than a year in office before the military  removed him from power and installed al-Sisi.

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Citing Brussels attack, Amsterdam ups security for Jewish centers

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Following the slaying of four people at Brussels’ Jewish museum in May, the City of Amsterdam has decided to increase security around Jewish centers indefinitely.

The decision was based on the recommendation of the Dutch National Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism and Security, or NCTV, the ANP news agency reported on Thursday. The Coordinator said in an advisory notice that there was no concrete intelligence on planned attacks, AP reported, but added that the May 24 murder of four people in Brussels shows “that such an attack is perceivable,” according to the NOS broadcaster.

Amsterdam Mayor Eberhard Edzard van der Laan said the extra security measures, which were not specified in Dutch media, will come in addition to existing security arrangements made by the Jewish community of Amsterdam, where most of the Netherlands’ 45,000 Jews live.

“It will increase the community’s security and ability to resist [attacks],” ANP quoted van der Laan as saying.

Dutch politicians and Jewish community representatives have lobbied for years for their government to increase security arrangements around Jewish institutions. The Jewish community of Amsterdam estimates its annual expenditure on security at just over $1 million.

Meanwhile, in the Belgian city of Antwerp, a spokesperson for the local police told the ATV channel that police will soon reduce security around Jewish institutions, which since the attack have been guarded by a special force of approximately 200 officers armed with machine guns.

“We can continue patrolling for a while longer, but not forever,” the spokesperson said Monday.

French police on May 30 arrested Mehdi Nemmouche, a 29-year-old French national, whom Belgian and French authorities believe killed the four victims of the Jewish Museum of Belgium shooting in central Brussels, though he denies the allegations. French police said Nemmouche fought in Syria with jihdaists in 2013.

On Tuesday the museum reopened to the public for the first time since the attack, under heavy police surveillance, the news site 7sur7.be reported.

The following day, Belgium’s interior minister, Joelle Milquet, visited the museum with her French counterpart, Bernard Cazeneuve, to express solidarity with the Jewish community and extend their condolences for the dead — two of the museum’s staffers and two Israeli tourists.

 

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Eating Breakfast Neither Helps nor Hinders Weight Loss

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It’s nearly impossible for us not to believe that what we eat has a profound effect on our health. But what we know about the link between food and health is much less than what we believe. A study published this week provides a perfect example.

An overweight person trying to lose weight is likely to hear advice about the importance of eating breakfast. We have some reasons to guess that skipping breakfast might hamper weight loss efforts. Skipping breakfast should increase hunger which might cause overeating at lunch. Hunger can also trigger hormonal changes that make weight loss more difficult. There have even been some observational studies showing that people who eat breakfast are thinner than those who don’t. (” target=”_blank”>In the study published this week, investigators enrolled about 300 overweight and obese adults and randomized them to three groups. One group in addition to receiving general weight loss advice was instructed to eat breakfast every day. The second group was instructed to skip breakfast every day. The third group received general nutrition advice that didn’t mention any advice about breakfast.

The groups were quite compliant with following their instructions. The group that was supposed to skip breakfast almost always did so, and the group that was supposed to eat breakfast almost always did so. The three groups lost equal amounts of weight. The senior investigator of the study, David Allison, summed it up well. “The field of obesity and weight loss is full of commonly held beliefs that have not been subjected to rigorous testing.”

There’s nothing wrong with educated guesses. They’re the seeds of discovery. But without testing we shouldn’t forget that they are not knowledge. We mistakenly keep guesses around for decades, grow comfortable with them, and forget that they’re untested. It seems that the field of nutrition is especially littered with these long-held assumptions. (” target=”_blank”>Skipping Breakfast May Not Be Bad For Weight Loss After All (Forbes)
” target=”_blank”>Passing on Breakfast OK for Weight Loss (Medpage Today)
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‘Ready for Hillary’ launches Jewish outreach

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A political action committee preparing the ground for a Hillary Rodham Clinton run for the presidency launched a Jewish outreach.

Jewish Americans Ready for Hillary launched on Tuesday afternoon, just before the Shavuot holiday.

It is attached to Ready for Hillary, a so-called Super PAC founded in January 2013 by former staffers and loyalists to the former first lady, secretary of state and U.S. senator from New York.

Among those spearheading the outreach are Steve Rabinowitz, a Washington publicist close to a number of national Jewish groups who is a veteran of the Clinton White House communications team; Marc Stanley, the immediate past chairman of the National Jewish Democratic Council; and Fran Katz Watson, a veteran fundraiser for Democratic and pro-Israel causes.

Clinton, who lost her bid for the Democratic presidential nod in 2008 to Barack Obama, has not yet announced her intention to run again for the presidency.

Super PACS may raise and spend unlimited funds but are prohibited from donating directly to candidates. Ready for Hillary has so far raised close to $6 million.

 

‘Ready for Hillary’ launches Jewish outreach Read More »

E.U. donates $335m to UNRWA

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The European Union approved a $335 million contribution to UNRWA, the United Nations agency responsible for people it defines as Palestinian refugees.

The contribution, which will go to UNRWA‘s General Fund for core services for the period 2014-2016, was announced on Wednesday at a ceremony attended by E.U. Foreign Affairs Chief Catherine Ashton and UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krahenbühl.

“The European Union remains a steadfast partner for Palestine refugees amid the uncertainty of the Middle East right now,” he said at the ceremony in Brussels, according to the E.U.-funded ENPI Information and Communication Support Project.

“The European Union’s continuing support to UNRWA is a key element in our strategy to promote stability in the Middle East and facilitate the parties’ quest for peace,” said Ashton.

Ashton and Krahenbühl signed a joint declaration on E.U. support for UNRWA — an acronym for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees — in which the European Union pledged the new sum.

The United States is also a major donor to UNRWA, having contributed close to $300 million in 2013.

Founded in 1949, UNRWA provides social, welfare and medical services to approximately five million Palestinian Arabs who were displaced during the first Israeli-Arab war of 1948, or are descended from Palestinian Arabs who were displaced in the conflict. UNRWA provides education, welfare and medical services in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority.

Israel’s government works with UNRWA on a number of levels, in part because the agency’s relief helps maintain stability in the region, although Israel has clashed with the agency on a number of occasions.

In 2011, Israel’s foreign ministry accused UNRWA of helping to perpetuate the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by “not applying equal and universal principles,” claiming that its definition of refugee is more liberal than that of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

UNRWA officials say that in many cases they assist Palestinians who would otherwise be neglected by host governments. UNRWA has been a key conduit for aid, for instance, to Palestinians affected by the Syrian conflict.

Between 2007 and 2013, the European Union has provided more than $1.3 billion in support to UNRWA. In 2013, funding by European Union member states and institutions accounted for 43 percent of the U.N. organization’s budget, according to ENPI.

 

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One Israeli creation for the weekend

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Rita Yahan-Farouz, formally known as Rita, is an Iranian-born singer and one of Israel’s biggest divas. She was born in 1962 in Tehran, Iran. Her family immigrated to Israel in 1970 and lived in a suburb outside of Tel Aviv.

 

She began singing professionally during her military service as an IDF musical troupe member. Later on in the 80’s she became a professional singer and performer and rose to stardom. Rita released 10 albums so far, almost all of them earning “gold” or “platinum” titles. She was married to singer and composer Rami Kleinstein, and the two worked together performed together until their separation in 2007.

 

In 2011, she gained a surprising success in Iran as an underground singing sensation after the release of various pop records in which she sings in her native Persian language. Iran has tried to block Western-style pop music and filtered the Internet, but it did not stop her Iranian fans. In 2012, her album Ha'Smachot Shellanu (“All My Joys”,) also sung in Persian, was popular in both Israel and Iran. She has since been referred to as a cultural ambassador between Israeli and Iranian citizens, and was quoted recently saying she hopes to “puncture the wall of tension” between the two countries. 


Enjoy her unique, beautiful voice and feel free to comment below! You can follow Israelife on Facebook

 

Ahuvat HaSapan (The Sailor's Lover)

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