News – Page 279

Shepherding biblical sheep

Jacob sheep Molly and Leah. (photo by Mustard Seed Imaging)

Chabad Rabbi Falik Schtroks of the Centre for Judaism of the Lower Fraser Valley delivered a lecture on the meaning of the Jacob sheep in conjunction with parashat Veyetzei during a visit to the flock in Langley on Sunday, Nov. 15. He was accompanied by his students and invited guests.

The rabbi explained how the sheep look just as they are described in the Tanach: they have spotted ankle bands (akudim), spotted and speckled patterns (nikud), patches (tiluyim) and bands (broodim), all of which are mentioned in the Bible.

“It is very likely that the animal we are looking at is the Jacob sheep, as there are no other sheep in the world that have all these characteristics. If I would have ever imagined Jacob’s flock, I wouldn’t have imagined them any different than the flock in your field,” he said.

photo - Rabbi Falik Schtroks holds Moshe, while Isaac and Solomon look on. The Jacob sheep’s “shepherds,” Gil and Jenna Lewinsky, are trying to get their flock back home to Israel — Rabbi Falik Schtroks holds Moshe, while Isaac and Solomon look on. The Jacob sheep’s “shepherds,” Gil and Jenna Lewinsky, are trying to get their flock back home to Israel. *(photo by Mustard Seed Imaging)*

In his lecture, Schtroks taught that the patterns of the sheep have relevance for day-to-day living by comparing the patterns to the progression of human civilization, as well as to personal growth. The ankle bands represent the incubation phase or childhood. The speckles represent individualism, but the blotches represent our growth in this world, which allows us to recognize and include others. The goal is for the blotches to “bleed” into each other to form a band, for individuals to live in harmony with the outside world.

“It is not very often that one can be down to earth, mingling with sheep, and find there vivid clarity of mystical teachings. What is usually an obscure narrative comes bursting into life,” said Schtroks.

The rabbi was very excited to observe the sheep’s behavior. The sheep operate as a collective, he noted. If one sheep were to go missing, it would cause mass distress in the flock. “Take a look at how these sheep behave only as part of a herd and none act truly independently … it is comparable to the Jewish people who are compared to one flock.”

He continued, “Seeing the Jacob sheep as they have survived until this day, as an heirloom breed with the biblically described characteristics, seems to parallel the miracle of the Jewish people and their survival – despite all odds – for the duration of the past 4,000 years.”

Schtroks said he hoped that the sheep’s transition to life in Israel would be easy. The flock’s “shepherds,” Gil and Jenna Lewinsky have been lobbying the Israeli government to allow their Jacob sheep to return to the Golan Heights. The couple would like to establish a heritage park where this endangered breed of four-horned and speckled, spotted and ankle-banded sheep can be preserved, and put to their biblical and original use.

Rabbi Amram Vaknin, the rabbinical mystic from Ashdod, Israel, endorsed the Lewinskys’ Jacob sheep in October, telling Friends of the Jacob Sheep, later reported to Breaking Israel News, that the sheep do not belong in Canada but rather “in the land of Israel.” He told the news outlet and the couple that it is permissible for the sheep to return as long as the shepherds are G-d fearing.

Following the rabbinical endorsements, the Lewinskys are optimistic about the prospect of negotiating for the return of the Jacob sheep and feel that their flock will bring a tremendous blessing to the nation of Israel. “It’s the spiritual wealth of Jacob and the national animal of the Jewish people according to the Tanach,” they said.

For more about the Jacob sheep, visit friendsofthejacobsheep.weebly.com. To see the sheep in action, check out youtube.com/watch?v=asI7tSB6p_w.

Pollard back at home

Jonathan Pollard and his wife Esther in the first photograph following his release from prison. (photo from Justice for Jonathan Pollard via jns.org)

After spending 30 years in a U.S. federal prison, American-Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard was freed on parole on Nov. 20, one day ahead of schedule to allow him to observe Shabbat.

“The people of Israel welcome the release of Jonathan Pollard,” Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said in a statement. “As someone who has raised the issue for many years with American presidents, I have dreamt of this day. After three long and hard decades, Jonathan is finally reunited with his family. I wish Jonathan a quiet and joyous Shabbat.”

Pollard was the only person in U.S. history sentenced to life in prison over spying for an American ally (Israel). Advocates in the Jewish community as well as experts in the U.S. intelligence community had long called for his release both due to the severity of his sentence and on the humanitarian grounds of his failing health.

The National Council of Young Israel (NCYI) said on Nov. 20 that it is “extraordinarily grateful that Jonathan Pollard is now out of prison and reunited with his family.”

Videos teach sign language

Israeli politicians learn to sign on the day that the Institute for the Advancement of Deaf Persons in Israel inaugurated a new online dictionary at the Knesset on Oct. 21. (photo from Institute for the Advancement of Deaf Persons in Israel)

A new online Israeli Sign Language (ISL) dictionary is helping people communicate by teaching hearing people via short video clips how to sign words. It is Yael Kakon’s vision come to life.

Kakon is the executive director of the Institute for the Advancement of Deaf Persons in Israel (IADPI).

“Our institute is working in several fields and one of them is to increase the use of sign language, especially with the people working with [those who are deaf], but also in the general population in Israel,” said Kakon, whose parents are deaf. “We have done several smaller dictionaries that were meant for specific industries. This is the first one that is online that people can reach anywhere.”

The previous dictionaries were on CD-ROM disks. These versions became outdated, as operating systems changed to the point that people could no longer use them.

There was a Signs in Crisis dictionary that was widely used by Magen David Adom and in hospitals. Signs of Judaism was another, as was Dictionary for Terminology, which was designed for high school science and math and was also translated into Arabic. The newest lexicon incorporates all of these versions, as well as additional words. Its video dictionary currently has just over 3,000 clips of signing in four languages: English, Hebrew, Arabic and Russian.

The limit on words and languages is because the cost was prohibitive to go further at the moment, said Kakon, who is hopeful that more clips will be added along the way.

Every 10th word out of the dictionary was chosen, followed by a manual check to ensure that all the important words were on the list. This is a systematic method that linguists use when compiling dictionaries, she explained.

“The translation into four languages was very complicated,” said Elias Kabakov, director of program development. “Even translation into Hebrew, because, if there are two languages, each one can have synonyms and each one can mean different things in different contexts…. English can have different context. It’s the same with Russian and Arabic. This must have delayed completion of the dictionary by two years. It’s not just a matter of translating a bunch of words, but making sure the intention of each sign was right.”

“Although we just started,” Kakon said, “I can tell you that there has been a huge celebration in the deaf community. People felt pride. They felt like a unit, a big unit, a unit that got a lot of attention.

“One deaf person came and told us that he came to work the day after the release, at the place he had worked for several years, and one of the workers, a hearing person, came to him and told him in sign language, ‘Good morning. How are you?’ And he was shocked, and said, ‘I worked here for seven years. He never came to me and told me good morning.’

“He continued by asking the person, ‘What’s going on? How do you know how to sign?’ And the answer was, ‘I looked on the dictionary.’ He was very proud to tell us the story.”

Kakon said that all the people in the videos are deaf, as IADPI gives priority to employing deaf professionals. “Although I sign very well myself, due to my parents being deaf, I will never be in the front, because I think the deaf person should be in the front and I can hear,” she explained.

According to its website, the dictionary was produced with contributions from Alex Garfeld and the late Prof. Miriam Shlesinger, “who actively supported linguistic accessibility for the deaf and the hard-of-hearing population of Israel.”

Visit isl.org.il to use the dictionary or get the Signs in Crisis app. For more information about IADPI, including information about donations, visit dpii.org.

Rebeca Kuropatwa is a Winnipeg freelance writer.

A platform for giving

Naomi Brounstein, left, and Vivi Mann working on Ten Gav. (photo by Hindy Lederman via Israel21c.org)

In the Israeli port city of Ashdod, two families with blind babies were eager to take courses at the country’s sole training centre for parents of vision-impaired infants. But the centre is in Petah Tikva, a three-bus journey from Ashdod, and these families did not have cars. How could they get the specialized guidance they needed?

Their municipal social worker appealed to a new nonprofit, Ten Gav, a crowdfunding site for relatively small needs identified by Israeli social workers and vetted by the two volunteer founders. Following a successful campaign, a van was hired to transport the families to and from the training sessions.

The funding needs presented on Ten Gav never exceed $1,500, and every dollar donated goes directly to the chosen campaign, so even a small contribution counts large. Since December 2014, Ten Gav has fully funded 80 projects, among them a refrigerator for a destitute family, beds for new immigrants, an air conditioner for the bedroom of a child with cerebral palsy and a washing machine for an elderly woman.

The founders, Ra’anana residents Vivi Mann and Naomi Brounstein, are professional women with a soft spot for charitable endeavors. They wanted to find a worthwhile project they could start and run together. Mann is a management consultant and Brounstein – who is from Ontario – has degrees in law and social work.

“Vivi and I looked for challenges that needed to be faced, and we developed this model for the Israeli market based on similar sites operating in America,” Brounstein told Israel21c.

They began Ten Gav as an online crowdfunding platform to match donors with modest needs in Israel that cannot be funded by the state or existing charities. “We are very careful not to present stories where another organization can easily provide what is needed,” said Brounstein.

With startup capital from supporters including Joseph Gitler, founder and head of the Leket Israel national food bank, they began making contact with municipal social workers across Israel.

They weren’t quite ready to launch when the 2014 summer conflict with Hamas escalated into Operation Protective Edge, but a Canadian friend of Brounstein’s wanted to make an immediate donation to families affected by the rocket fire, and asked if she could do so through Ten Gav.

“So, we built our first site using Wix, as Vivi ran around to communities in the south to find needs from social workers,” said Brounstein. “Sderot social workers deal with a lot of elderly residents, and we filled a number of requests for air conditioners and washing machines. This was not a directly war-related need but, in times of uncertainty and insecurity, any help you give goes a long way in making people feel they are supported by others.”

After the ceasefire in late August, the women took Ten Gav offline until they truly felt ready to launch at the end of the year.

“Ten Gav is all about empowering donors to select the cases their money will go to, and empowering the recipient,” said Mann.

Many of the cases brought to their attention by social workers don’t fall under the rubric of traditional charity. For example, a social worker in one city thought that joining an afterschool soccer program would help two boys in therapy to release their aggression in a fun and disciplined manner, and that they would benefit from being part of a team. Since their parents could not afford the fee, Ten Gav raised it and the boys were able to join.

The two founders say they are impressed by the sensitivity and creativity of the welfare authorities they meet in each municipality. “They see things in homes that you and I do not see,” said Brounstein.

Sharon Friedman, a social worker in the Department of Youth at Risk of Jerusalem, describes Ten Gav’s assistance as “oxygen to breathe” for some of her clients. Among requests her office has submitted and that have been successfully crowdfunded are piano lessons for a girl whose family could not afford them, a ping-pong table for a child with social difficulties, an afterschool program for a child from a single-parent home and a computer to enable a woman to work from home.

Cheques are made out to the service providers and handed over by the social workers. All administrative costs are covered separately by grants from supporters such as the U.S.-based Good People Fund.

“We are looking to expand slowly so we can control the types of cases and level of due diligence we can do so our donors can always be confident their money is going to the right place,” said Brounstein.

Mann explained that the name Ten Gav was chosen for a few reasons. The expression loosely translates to “watch my back” and portrays the idea of helping out rather than handing over cash. “Everybody gives something and gets connected to a personal story, knowing their money won’t get lost in a big pool.”

For more information, visit tengav.org.

Abigail Klein Leichman is a writer and associate editor at Israel21c. Prior to moving to Israel in 2007, she was a specialty writer and copy editor at a daily newspaper in New Jersey and has freelanced for a variety of newspapers and periodicals since 1984. Israel21c is a nonprofit educational foundation with a mission to focus media and public attention on the 21st-century Israel that exists beyond the conflict. For more, or to donate, visit israel21c.org.

A laptop for every teacher

Teachers at CHW Hadassim with the new computers. (photo by Amir Alon)

Last month, the Athena Fund announced that three Israeli youth villages – CHW Hadassim Children and Youth Village, Mosenson Youth Village and Ayelet Hashachar Youth Village for Girls – have joined the Laptop Computer for Every Teacher in Israel program. The program provides laptops and 120 hours of professional training to teachers across Israel, with the aim of empowering teachers and improving student learning.

photo - Uri Ben-Ari, president and founder of Athena Fund, left, and Zeev Twito, director of WIZO Hadassim — Uri Ben-Ari, president and founder of Athena Fund, left, and Zeev Twito, director of WIZO Hadassim. *(photo by Amir Alon)*

Athena’s Laptop for Every Teacher in Israel program has so far distributed laptops to more than 11,000 teachers in 939 schools and kindergartens in 430 towns, cities and small communities in regional councils, together with professional training courses. The laptop distribution is made possible by contributions from Athena Fund’s various partners, including United Jewish Appeal, Bank Massad, the Israel Teachers Union’s Fund for Professional Advancement, WIZO, local authorities and others.

CHW Hadassim is located north of Tel Aviv and has 1,300 students. It is one the largest youth villages in Israel. Local area students attend the school, in addition to 200 from difficult or new immigrant backgrounds, who reside in campus dormitories.

Hadassim High School offers a full academic course of study in preparation for university. The youth village also provides a wide range of specialized studies tailored to the interests and needs of outstanding students, as well as those who are experiencing scholastic difficulties. Among the subjects offered are criminology, natural sciences, agriculture, horse breeding, therapeutic horse riding, art and sculpture, and photography. There is also a musical group called Ethiopian Sun, which performs all over Israel.

Mosenson Youth Village is in Hod Hasharon, north of Tel Aviv, with more than 800 students, nearly 130 of whom come to study in Israel from North America and countries around the world. The youth village consists of a high school and a boarding school where about 220 students live. The high school is known for many special programs, including one in agro-ecology that deals with environmental issues; a sports program that is ranked in the top five in Israel; a film and communication class; and an excellence class that studies science subjects such as math, chemistry, physics and biology at the highest levels.

Ayelet Hashachar, located on the Golan Heights, is a religious boarding high school, where about 100 girls live and study. In addition to standard subjects such as math, English, history and science, students also have an opportunity to focus on special subjects, such as communications, film and agriculture. The girls also attend a variety of enrichment classes, including nutrition, consumerism, the environment and art.

“The impact of computer use on the quality of teaching and learning in classrooms that participate in the Laptop for Every Teacher in Israel program can be clearly seen,” said Uri Ben-Ari, president and founder of Athena Fund. “Athena’s approach is to bring teachers to the digital world in which their students live. The fund believes that the computer and the accompanying training will help teachers cope with the information revolution and become mentors highly appreciated by their students.”

Health benefits from wine

Ben-Gurion University Prof. Iris Shai, principal investigator of the CArdiovaSCulAr Diabetes and Ethanol (CASCADE) trial. (photo by Dani Machlis/BGU)

A glass of red wine every night may help people with type 2 diabetes manage their cholesterol and cardiac health, according to new findings from a two-year randomized controlled trial (RCT) led by researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU). Additionally, both red and white wine can improve sugar control, depending on alcohol metabolism genetic profiling.

In this first long-term alcohol study, recently published in Annals of Internal Medicine, the researchers aimed to assess the effects and safety of initiating moderate alcohol consumption in diabetics, and sought to determine whether the type of wine matters. People with diabetes are more susceptible to developing cardiovascular diseases than the general population and have lower levels of “good” cholesterol. Despite the enormous contribution of observational studies, clinical recommendations for moderate alcohol consumption remain controversial, particularly for people with diabetes, due to lack of long-term RCTs, which are the “holy grail” of evidence-based medicine.

“Red wine was found to be superior in improving overall metabolic profiles, mainly by modestly improving the lipid profile, by increasing good (HDL) cholesterol and apolipoprotein A1 (one of the major constituents of HDL cholesterol), while decreasing the ratio between total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol,” the researchers explained.

The researchers concluded that “initiating moderate wine intake, especially red wine, among well-controlled diabetics, as part of a healthy diet, is apparently safe, and modestly decreases cardio-metabolic risk. The differential genetic effects that were found may assist in identifying diabetic patients in whom moderate wine consumption may induce greater clinical benefit.”

The researchers also found that only the slow alcohol-metabolizers who drank wine achieved an improvement in blood sugar control, while fast alcohol-metabolizers (with much faster blood alcohol clearance) did not benefit from the ethanol’s glucose control effect. Approximately one in five participants was found to be a fast alcohol-metabolizer, identified through ADH enzyme genetic variants tests.

Wine of either type (red or white) did not effect change in blood pressure, liver function tests, adiposity or adverse events/symptoms. However, sleep quality was significantly improved in both wine groups, compared with the water control group. All comparisons were adjusted for changes in clinical, medical and drug therapy parameters occurring among patients during the years of the study.

The two-year CArdiovaSCulAr Diabetes and Ethanol (CASCADE) randomized controlled intervention trial was performed on 224 controlled diabetes patients (aged 45 to 75), who generally abstained from alcohol. They gradually initiated moderate wine consumption, as part of a healthy diet platform, and not before driving. The trial completed with an unprecedented adherence rate of 87% after two years.

According to BGU Prof. Iris Shai, principal investigator of the CASCADE trial, and a member of the department of public health in the faculty of health sciences, “The differences found between red and white wine were opposed to our original hypothesis that the beneficial effects of wine are mediated predominantly by the alcohol. Approximately 150 millilitres of the dry red or white wines tested contained about 17 grams ethanol and 120 kilocalories, but the red wine had sevenfold higher levels of total phenols and four- to 13-fold higher levels of the specific resveratrol group compounds than the white wine. The genetic interactions suggest that ethanol plays an important role in glucose metabolism, while red wine’s effects additionally involve non-alcoholic constituents. Yet, any clinical implication of the CASCADE findings should be taken with caution with careful medical follow-up.”

The study was performed in collaboration with Prof. Meir Stampfer from Harvard University and with colleagues from University of Leipzig, Germany, and Karolinska Institute, Sweden.

In the new study that followed the research group’s three-month alcohol pilot RCT findings (Shai I., et al, Diabetes Care, 2007), the patients were randomized into three equal groups according to whether they consumed a five-ounce serving (150 millilitre) of mineral water, white wine or red wine with dinner every night for two years. Wine and mineral water were provided free of charge for the purposes of the study. Compliance with alcohol intake was tightly monitored, with patients returning their empty wine bottles and receiving their new supplies. All groups followed a non-calorie-restricted Mediterranean diet (following the group’s previous two-year dietary RCT findings; Shai I., et al, New England Journal of Medicine, 2008). Adherence was monitored using several validated assessment tools.

During the study, subjects underwent an array of comprehensive medical tests, including continuous monitoring of changes in blood pressure, heart rate and blood glucose levels, and follow-up for the dynamic of atherosclerosis and fat by ultrasound and MRI tests.

Sperm can “see” heat

Locations of different opsins on the human sperm, viewed under a microscope, are revealed by labeling with a fluorescent antibody (bright yellow). (photo from wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il)

In their journey to the egg, sperm “feel” the heat of the fallopian tube and “taste” the chemical signals of the ova. But, a new Weizmann Institute study published in Scientific Reports shows that sperm actually make use of sensors that have mainly been known to belong to the visual system.

If a sperm, about 46 microns (thousandths of a millimetre) long, were the size of a human being, it would swim several kilometres to reach its destination. Thus, sperm need to be guided by various cues. In earlier studies, Weizmann Institute’s Prof. Michael Eisenbach and his team discovered two of these guidance mechanisms – heat-sensing and chemical cues. The heat attraction works across the longer range: the site of the fertilization is warmer than the spot at the entrance to the fallopian tube where the sperm pause for maturation, and this temperature difference points them in the direction of the egg. When they get closer to the egg, they pick up its chemical signals.

“As in all important processes in nature, the sperm rely on more than one mechanism in their navigation, so that if one breaks down, others can provide a back-up,” Eisenbach said.

The heat sensitivity of sperm is extremely high. From a distance equivalent to the length of one sperm cell, they can sense differences in temperature as miniscule as 0.0006 of a degree Celsius, less than one thousandth of a degree. This sensitivity enables them to be guided by a very gradual increase in temperature on the way to the fertilization site.

In the new study, Eisenbach’s team – Dr. Serafín Pérez-Cerezales, Dr. Sergii Boryshpolets, Oshri Afanzar, Dr. Reinat Nevo and Vladimir Kiss of the biological chemistry department and Dr. Alexander Brandis of biological services – set out to discover exactly how sperm sense the heat. The scientists examined a particular category of receptors that, based on their previous studies, were thought to be involved in conveying signals to the sperm. Within this category, they zeroed in on a family of proteins called opsins.

Opsins are best known for their role in an entirely different sphere: the visual system. One major protein in this family, called rhodopsin, serves as a photoreceptor in the cells of the retina. Studies by other researchers working with fruit fly larvae had found this protein involved in responding to heat, hinting that this could also be the case in sperm.

The Weizmann scientists found that several proteins in the opsin family of receptors were present on the surface of mouse and human sperm. Each opsin had its own distribution pattern on the sperm, and each apparently made a contribution, through its own set of signals, to heat sensing. When the researchers blocked the signals from these opsins, the sperm failed to swim from a cooler to a warmer chamber.

These findings may explain the enigmatic presence of opsins in organs that are not exposed to light, including the lungs and the liver. They suggest that the mammalian opsins may be performing heat-sensing functions in these parts of the body.

More institute news can be found at wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il.

The longest shiur

Rabbi Shlomo Einhorn, dean of Yavneh Hebrew Academy, will attempt to deliver the longest uninterrupted Torah lecture ever from Dec. 23, 11:59 p.m., to Dec. 24, 6 p.m. PST. The goal of the record-setting attempt is to raise funds in support of students who can’t afford Jewish day school and to educate the public on the importance of a Jewish education.

Einhorn, author of Judaism Alive, is a graduate of Yavneh. In 2005, he became the head rabbi of New York’s West Side Institutional Synagogue. Upon returning to Los Angeles as dean of Yavneh in 2012, he began giving Torah lectures across the city, to both Orthodox and non-Orthodox groups. He is known for his memory and his ability to quote from dozens of Torah sources, while at the same time referencing pop culture, heroes and self-help gurus. To prepare for the 18-hour lecture, he is training with a vocal coach to get in shape.

The rabbi will focus on a different topic every hour for the full 18 hours. Among the topics are The Chosen People and Three Other Arrogant claims; Two Jews, Four Opinions: Why Do We Always Argue?; John Lennon’s “Imagine” Experiment: What Would the World be Without Religion?; Jacob’s Ladder and “The Stairway to Heaven”: Does Secular Culture Have a Home in this Religion?; and Did the Israelites Miss the Train?: Did the Messiah Already Come?

Einhorn will be lecturing from Yavneh Hebrew Academy. At the end of the 18 hours, there will be a dinner celebration with the student body and community members, as the students celebrate their own achievement, mastering 18,000 questions on Bereishit, Genesis, the first book of the Five Books of Moses. With a goal of raising $200,000 towards Jewish education, viewers can watch and donate by going to longestshiur.com.

366 ideas for kindness

Areyvut, a New Jersey-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to infuse the lives of Jewish youth and teens with the values of chesed (kindness), tzedakah (charity) and tikkun olam (repairing the world), has released its 2016 A Kindness a Day Calendar.

This flip calendar offers 366 suggestions (it’s a leap year!) for people of all ages to better themselves, their communities and the world at large. For example, Jan. 1’s entry suggests, “make a New Year’s resolution that will positively impact someone else’s life.” Other entries remind readers to “call and wish Shabbat Shalom to an out-of-town relative” or to “assist someone who is unemployed with writing a resumé and finding a job.” Beneath each act of kindness is a traditional Jewish text that explains from where the act of kindness is inspired.

Areyvut debuted A Kindness a Day in 2005 and continued to create calendars through 2009, the last year that the flip-book was published. Despite a six-year hiatus, the A Kindness a Day calendar is back with suggestions, sources and inspiration that will hopefully help readers to play a more active role in their families and communities.

“Charity, kindness and social justice must be an integral part of everyone’s day,” said Daniel Rothner, Areyvut’s founder and director. “The 2016 calendar allows for these core Jewish values to become more aligned to the context of people’s daily lives. A Kindness a Day is a great educational tool for children and adults alike; as well as homes, schools and other organizations, both as a guide to help instil Jewish values into one’s life and as a springboard for discussion and study.”

The 2016 calendar also includes a thematic index that categorizes the acts of kindness by theme (for example, loving your neighbor, tzedakah, tending to the sick, volunteering, prayer, etc.) and a glossary of terms. Calendars can be purchased on Areyvut’s website areyvut.org/shop. For sample pages, and additional information, email social@areyvut.org.

המסיבה עלתה רק מיליון ורבע דולר

(צילום: רוני רחמני)

המסיבה עלתה רק מיליון ורבע דולר: משטרת ונקובר מחפשת אחרי צעירה שגרמה נזק גדול למגדל המפואר של מלון ג’ורג’יה

משטרת ונקובר מחפשת מזה מספר שבועות אחרי צעירה אלמונית שגרמה נזק גדול מאוד, למגדל דירות גבוה של אחד מבתי המלון המפוארים ביותר בדאון טאון. מגדל הדירות (פרייבט רזידנס) של רוזווד מלון ג’ורג’יה, מתנשא לגובה ארבעים ושמונה קומות וכולל מאה וחמישים ושש דירות מפוארות. מחיר הסוויטות המפוארות נע בין מיליון דולר לשמונה עשר מיליון דולר (שזה מחיר הסאב- פנטהאוז). בזמן שהותה במגדל הדירות של המלון ומסיבה לא ברורה, הצעירה החליטה לפתוח את אחד מברזי הכיבוי הגדולים שמותקנים בחדר מדרגות החירום. כתוצאה מכך זרמו מים בכמות עצומה ובלחץ גבוה בין שלוש קומות (18-20), וגרמו נזקים קשים ללא פחות מעשרים ושש דירות. כן נגרמו נזקים גדולים לקומות עצמן וחלק מהקירות. עלות נזקי המים מוערכת על ידי חברת הביטוח שמבטחת את המלון ומגדל הדירות במיליון ורבע דולר.

מחקירה ראשונה של המשטרה המקומית מתברר שהצעירה הוזמנה למסיבה באחת הדירות במגדל והיא זו שאחראית להפעלת צינור הכיבוי. המשטרה שמגששת באפלה, ביקשה את עזרת הציבור באיתור הצעירה האלמונית, והיא קיבלה כבר מספר טיפים. בחברת הביטוח אומרים כי יש לא מעט תביעות של נזקים שנגרמו בדירות במגדלים גבוהים כתוצאה מסדקים באחד הצינורות, נזילות בחדרי האמבטיות או במכונות השונות שגרמו להצפות. אך זה מאוד נדיר שמישהו יפתח במכוון ברז כיבוי ויגרום לנזק כה גדול. באגף הכיבוי של עיריית ונקובר מציינים כי יש אפשרות להגן על ברזי כיבוי האש, מפני פתיחתם שלא לצורך. זאת באמצעות התקנת מנעולים מיוחדים שעולים כ-400 דולר (ליחידה).

מהפכה בתחום המזון: האף.די.איי האמריקני מאשר לראשונה לאכול דגים שנוצרו בהנדסה גנטית

מנהל המזון והתרופות האמריקאי (האף.די.איי) מאשר לראשונה לאכול דגי סלומון שנוצרו בהנדסה גנטית. מדובר בהחלטה חסרת תקדים בהיקפה כיוון שעד היום לא היה אישור בשום מקום בעולם, לאכול מוצרים מבעלי חיים שנוצרו בהנדסה גנטית. אישור האף.די.איי שנחשב לרגולטר המשפיע ביותר בתחום בעולם, פותח אפוא דלת לאפשר לגדל בעלי חיים נוספים בהנדסה גנטית לשם מאכל, כמו למשל בשר בקר שעמיד בפני מחלת הפרה המשוגעת. לפי הערכה יקח עוד כשנתיים עד שהדגים הגנטיים יגיעו לצלחות הסועדים.

היתרון המשמעותי בדגי הסלומון גנטיים הוא בכך שהם גדלים במהירות כפולה מזו של דגי סלומון רגילים. לדג סלומון לוקח כשלוש שנים להגיע לגודל המירבי שלו, ואילו לדג הגנטי זה לוקח כשנה וחצי בלבד. הדגים הגנטיים אף גדולים יותר בשיעור של כעשרים אחוז לעומת הסלומון הרגיל. בביצי הדגים הגנטיים מושלבים גנים של שלושה דגים: סלומון אטלנטי, סלומון צ’ינוק ודג הפוטית שההורמון שלו הוא זה שמאפשר את גידולם של הדגים לאורך כל השנה, לעומת דגי סלומון רגילים שאינם גדלים במים קרים.

את דגי הסלומון הגנטיים מגדלת חברת הביוטכנולגיה ‘אקווה באונטי טכנולוגיות אינק’ האמריקנית (שמניותיה נסחרות בבורסה ועלו לאחרונה משמעותית). אקווה באונטי מקיימת ניסויים מזה עשרים שנה, וסוף סוף זכתה להכרה משמעותית וקיבלה גושפנקא חוקית לפעילותה. ביצי הדגים הגנטיים מוחזקות במתקנים מיוחדים במפרץ שמזרח מחוז פרינס אדוארד איילנד, שבמזרח קנדה. משם הביצים מועברות להמשך גידול במיכלים עיליים בחוות דגים בפנמה. יצויין כי האף.די.איי לא מאשר בשלב זה לגדל את הדגים הגנטיים בשטחה של ארה”ב. בימים אלה גם מנהל הבריאות הקנדי בוחן את האפשרות להעניק אישור לאכול את דגי הסלומון הגנטיים המדוברים בקנדה.