Today is: Yom Revee´ee, Tammuz 4, 5771 • 7 6, 2011
Topicsa In The News
Current events
Armed conflicts and attacks
2011 Libyan uprising: Rebels launch an offensive in the western Nafusa Mountains. (Reuters)
An explosion and gunfire are heard in the northern Nigerian town of Maiduguri, amid activity by Islamist group Boko Haram. (Malaysia Star)
A Syrian human rights organisation claims that Syrian Army troops have killed 22 people in the town of Hama since yesterday. (Al Jazeera)
Business and economy
Japan's Jiji Press reports that the country will conduct stress tests for all nuclear reactors in the country. (Reuters)
Disasters
Authorities report that a cargo plane has crashed in eastern Afghanistan with casualties feared. (AP via Washington Post)
Seven people have died in floods in Sichuan Province in the People's Republic of China. (Xinhua)
Law and crime
Five Belarusian journalists are sentenced to administrative arrests ranging from three to twelve days for attending unsanctioned rallies in Minsk and other cities. (RIA Novosti)
Russian government daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta publishes a list of individuals and companies allegedly involved in money laundering and financing of terrorism. (RIA Novosti)
The perjury trial of star baseball pitcher Roger Clemens commences in the US over allegedly false statements made to a United States Congress Committee over use of performance enhancing drugs. (Reuters via Yahoo)
Politics
Members of the United Kingdom House of Commons discuss a Labour Party proposal to set up a public inquiry into the News of the World phone hacking affair. (BBC)
Nepalese authorities ban exiled Tibetans from celebrating the Dalai Lama's birthday for fears that the gatherings will turn anti-Chinese. (MSNBC)
Aides: Despite speculation, Biden will remain on Obama ticket
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Aides from U.S. President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign rejected predictions published in the New York Post on Monday that Obama was looking to replace Vice President Joe Biden with New York governor Andrew Cuomo as his running mate. The aides repeated that Biden would be on the ticket as the vice presidential nominee of the Democratic Party, just as he was during the 2008 election.
According to the Post, former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown made the claim earlier in the year. He characterized Cuomo as "a big name, a big-state governor, and a Democrat who is taking on the issue of public-employee salaries and pensions. Plus, he looks good." The most recent prediction came from former New York GOP chairman William Powers, who reportedly told the Post "I don't think there's any doubt Obama is going to pick him (Cuomo) as his running mate. The president is in trouble and Biden doesn't bring anything to his ticket."
Biden, 68, previously confirmed to The New York Times in October that he would be on the 2012 ticket after rumors spread by journalist Bob Woodward suggested that Obama wanted to swap Biden with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Biden stated that Obama had already asked him to run.
Cuomo, 53, began his governorship earlier this year and signed a bill last month legalizing same-sex marriage. He referred to the rumors as "political chatter and silliness". He is speculated to make a run for president in 2016.
WIDE SPREAD CHEATING STOPS:
Over half of Romanian terminal grade students fail baccalaureate exam
Only 44.47 percent of Romanian high school students passed last week's 2011 baccalaureate exam, according to the results published by Romanian education authorities on Sunday. The baccalaureate exam in Romania is the secondary school educational qualification test, and passing it attests that a student has graduated high school and may be admitted to a university. This is dramatically different from 69.3 percent last year and 81.4 percent in 2009.
The moment of truth has come. Success rates topping 80 percent were not possible. We were simply deluding ourselves.
—Liliana Romanciuc, school inspector
Sunday's passing figures are a record low since the exam was introduced in Romania and comes after new anti-fraud measures cut back on student cheating. These included installing cameras in examination centres and forbidding students from paying teachers to obtain higher scores. For this exam, 665 high school students were caught cheating, double the number from last year, and at one high school it was found that the exam answers were given to 111 pupils prior to the exam.
Caras Severin County reported the lowest rate with 24.82 percent graduation, and Suceava reported the highest with 65.03 percent, down from 87.39 percent in 2010. In Bucharest the rate was 42.03 percent, the lowest since the 1989 revolution.
The release of the results started a national debate on the possible causes of the drastic drop in scores, from the failure of parental participation, poor teacher pay and pay cuts, to student disinterest and lack of motivation. Critics say the educational system depends on rote learning and students are not taught to think independently. Students say the school curriculum is boring and out-of-date.
At a press conference on Monday, Education minister Daniel Funeriu said, "These results are a mirror of our society. Romania is now at a crossroads...The nation should choose to encourage people who like to work rather than those who prefer cheating".
Cristian Alexandrescu, chief education inspector for Bucharest, argued that the exam was not taken seriously by students and the results prove that a student cannot obtain a diploma without effort.
"The moment of truth has come," Liliana Romanciuc, a school inspector in north-eastern Romania, told Mediafax. "Success rates topping 80 percent were not possible. We were simply deluding ourselves."
Today in Judaism
Today in Jewish History
• Passing of Rabbeinu Tam (1171)
Rabbi Yaakov ben Meir of Romereau (1100?-1171), known as "Rabbeinu Tam", was a grandson of Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, 1040-1105), and one of the primary authors of the Tosaphot commentary on the Talmud; the Bet-Din (rabbinical court) he headed was regarded as the leading Torah authority of his generation.
• Maharam Imprisoned (1286)
Rabbi Meir ben Baruch ("Maharam") of Rothenburg (1215?-1293), the great Talmudic commentator and leading Halachic authority for German Jewry, was imprisoned in the fortress at Ensisheim. A huge ransom was imposed for his release. The money was raised, but Rabbi Meir refused to allow it to be paid lest this encourage the further hostage taking of Jewish leaders. He died in captivity after seven years of imprisonment.
Daily Quote
No man is appointed as an authority over the community unless there is something objectionable in his past, lest he lord over the community
- Talmud
Daily Study
Chitas and Rambam for today:
Chumash: Balak, 4th Portion Numbers 22:39-23:12 with Rashi
Tehillim: Chapters 23 - 28
Tanya: Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah, beginning of Chapter 10
Rambam:
• Sefer Hamitzvos:
• 1 Chapter: Rotseah uShmirat Nefesh Chapter Four
• 3 Chapters: MaAchalot Assurot Chapter 14, MaAchalot Assurot Chapter 15, MaAchalot Assurot Chapter 16
Hayom Yom:
"Today's Day"
One single chassid or student who devotes his heart, mind and soul to Torah and to bolstering Torah, effects wonders in a large city, in all that city's affairs - in a manner that transcends the natural order, by the merit of our Patriarchs, "Fathers of the World."
Daily Mitzvah (Maimonides)
Tammuz 4, 5771 • July 6, 2011Today's Mitzvah
A daily digest of Maimonides’ classic work "Sefer Hamitzvot"
Negative Commandment 187
Consuming a Mixture of Meat and Milk
"You shall not boil a kid in its mother milk"—Exodus 34:26.
It is forbidden to consume a mixture of meat and milk.
Negative Commandment 186
Cooking a Mixture of Meat and Milk
"You shall not boil a kid in its mother milk "—Exodus 23:19.
It is forbidden to cook a mixture of meat and milk.
Negative Commandment 189
Bread from the New Harvest
"And you shall not eat bread, roasted grain or fresh grain..."—Leviticus 23:14.
It is forbidden to partake of bread made of the new season's harvest before the 16th of Nissan has passed.
Negative Commandment 190
Roasted Grain of the New Harvest
"And you shall not eat bread, roasted grain or fresh grain..."—Leviticus 23:14.
It is forbidden to partake of roasted grain of the new season's harvest before the 16th of Nissan has passed.
Negative Commandment 191
Fresh Kernels of the New Harvest
"And you shall not eat bread, roasted grain or fresh grain until this very day"—Leviticus 23:14.
It is forbidden to partake of fresh grain kernels of the new season's harvest before the 16th of Nissan has passed.
Negative Commandment 192
Young Fruit
"For three years it shall be forbidden to you; it shall not be eaten"—Leviticus 19:23.
It is forbidden to eat orlah, the fruit of a tree the first three years after it was planted. This prohibition also applies to fruit grown in the Diaspora.
THE SACREDNESS OF EACH DAY IN TORAH
Genesis Chapter 1
בְּרֵאשִׁית
Yom Revee´ee............Fourth day
יד וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, יְהִי מְאֹרֹת בִּרְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמַיִם, לְהַבְדִּיל, בֵּין הַיּוֹם וּבֵין הַלָּיְלָה; וְהָיוּ לְאֹתֹת וּלְמוֹעֲדִים, וּלְיָמִים וְשָׁנִים. 14
And God said: 'Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years;
טו וְהָיוּ לִמְאוֹרֹת בִּרְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמַיִם, לְהָאִיר עַל-הָאָרֶץ; וַיְהִי-כֵן. 15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth.' And it was so.
טז וַיַּעַשׂ אֱלֹהִים, אֶת-שְׁנֵי הַמְּאֹרֹת הַגְּדֹלִים: אֶת-הַמָּאוֹר הַגָּדֹל, לְמֶמְשֶׁלֶת הַיּוֹם, וְאֶת-הַמָּאוֹר הַקָּטֹן לְמֶמְשֶׁלֶת הַלַּיְלָה, וְאֵת הַכּוֹכָבִים. 16 And God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; and the stars.
יז וַיִּתֵּן אֹתָם אֱלֹהִים, בִּרְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמָיִם, לְהָאִיר, עַל-הָאָרֶץ. 17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
יח וְלִמְשֹׁל, בַּיּוֹם וּבַלַּיְלָה, וּלְהַבְדִּיל, בֵּין הָאוֹר וּבֵין הַחֹשֶׁךְ; וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים, כִּי-טוֹב. 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good.
יט וַיְהִי-עֶרֶב וַיְהִי-בֹקֶר, יוֹם רְבִיעִי. {פ} 19 And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. {P}
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