In a seeming departure from centuries-old traditions of American Jewish skepticism, interest in spirituality is markedly on the rise among Jewish young adults, according to a study released this month.
The study's authors note the trend with cautious optimism, suggesting that heightened spiritual interest might provide a "route to Jewish engagement" and "broaden Judaism's appeal" among some disaffiliated young Jews. Spirituality might also "serve as a common religious language" to ease tensions within the Jewish community, the study says, particularly between Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews.
But a close reading of the study's findings suggests the opposite, possibly pointing toward a future increase in polarization and hostility among Jews. Worth noting in particular are the two groups of younger Jews that show the strongest interest in spirituality. They are the two fastest-growing Jewish demographic subgroups: Orthodox Jews, and Jews with at least one non-Jewish parent or spouse - that is, converts, intermarried Jews and children of intermarriage.
Oh, I've heard many reasons why we should circumcise a baby boy. Some of the popular ones are:
I want him to look like me.
He'll be a freak in the locker room.
You have to. Boys who aren't circumcised are dirty.Jennifer's recent
post,
WTF? Baby Boys' Circumcised Foreskins Used for Wrinkle Treatment made me laugh out loud. Mostly it was her shock at up cycling foreskins.
As I commented on that blog, I'd already known they "reused" foreskins. My sister had been involved with a skin grafting on a foot that used those circumcised scraps. If feet and penises combined for life aren't your idea of fun, perhaps you've already hopped on the no-circumcise bandwagon.
Enough about Asia's "shame-based" culture, it is the gun culture in America that is most conspicuous.
Whenever a minority commits a heinous crime, it seems to beckon us in the media to search beyond an individual motive for a cultural one. We saw it in the case of Cho Sung-hui of Virginia tech, and now, in the latest case involving Jiverly Linh Phat Wong -- (or Voong). He blocked the back exit of a civic community center in Binghamton, N.Y., where immigrants had gathered to learn English and shot 13 people to death before killing himself.
It is a habit of "finding the ethnic angle" that is endemic in the work of American journalists in an age of cultural diversity, and in order to sound credible, we often ask so-called experts to give their insights.
Jack Levin, director of the Brudnick Center on Violence at Northeastern University and an expert on mass murderers, offered his take. "He was going to take his life, but first he was going to get even," Levin said the day after the Binghamton incident. "He was going to get sweet revenge against the other immigrants who had looked down upon him, among whom he had lost face. To him, that was an extremely important thing."
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Broccoli sprouts protect the stomach against a bacterial infection which causes conditions such as gastritis, ulcers and stomach cancer.
According to a study published in
Cancer Prevention Research, eating 2 1/2 ounces of three-day-old broccoli sprouts every day for at least two months reduces the levels of H. pylori infection but does not prevent it.
H. pylori levels are reported to return to pre-treatment levels eight weeks after the individual stops eating the sprouts.
Born leaders may be more likely to have children than people who prefer to be led, a study suggests.
Researchers found that among Finnish adults in a long- term health study, those who'd scored high on a "leadership" scale as teenagers were more likely than low scorers to have a child by the age of 39.
In contrast, several other aspects of the "type A" personality - aggressiveness, eagerness and a strong sense of responsibility - were unrelated to fertility.
The findings suggest that something about leadership traits, specifically, affects a person's likelihood of having children, the researchers report in the Journal of Personality.
Maggie Fox
ReutersThu, 09 Apr 2009 05:14 UTC
President Barack Obama set up an executive office for healthcare reform at the White House on Wednesday, saying the overhaul was one of the biggest priorities for the first year of his presidency.
Obama issued an executive order that says the U.S. healthcare system "suffers from serious and pervasive problems."
The White House Office of Health Reform (Health Reform Office) will help the executive branch steer "the federal government's comprehensive effort to improve access to health care, the quality of such care, and the sustainability of the health care system," the order reads.
The word "heartbreak" is bandied about so much we often forget that physical heart pain is a side effect of high-stress events.
There's a pivotal moment in an episode of "The Simpsons" that has always stood out in my memory. When Lisa tells Ralph Wiggum she doesn't want to be his girlfriend, his face scrunches in agony and he clutches his heart as if it's literally breaking. I remember giggling at the exaggeration and then years later when my own heart got broken, I put my hand to my chest and felt his pain.
The word "heartbreak" is bandied about so much we often forget that, along with depression and loss of appetite, physical heart pain is an actual side effect of high-stress events like the loss of loved ones. The grief from a breakup or death can be so consuming that it's actually heart wrenching and can have serious consequences for our physical health, too.
Dr. Marty Klein
AlterNetThu, 09 Apr 2009 03:32 UTC
A new book tries to scare young people out of having sex. Recall the classic definition of chutzpah: It's the kid who murders his parents, then asks the court for mercy because he's an orphan.
That's what Hooked: New Science on How Casual Sex is Affecting Our Children is like. McIlhaney has spent his career trashing science regarding sexual health; now he's written a book pretending to use science to explain why sex is bad for unmarried people, especially adolescents. Freda McKissic Bush is his willing accomplice, a Board member of McIlhaney's Medical Institute for Sexual Health, and a member of President Bush's Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, which favored blind faith in abstinence over established knowledge in biology, psychology, sociology, and economics.
You may recall that several years ago President Bush appointed McIlhaney, a well-known advocate of abstinence-only programs, an advisor to the CDC. This, despite the fact that in 1995 the Texas Commissioner of Health (under then-Governor Bush) noted McIlhaney's lack of professional credibility. In April 2002, McIlhaney testified to Congress that there was no evidence that comprehensive sexuality education programs are "successful at all" -- a year AFTER Doug Kirby's report for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy documented this success.
The government of Thailand has classified 13 plants - traditionally used as herbal medicines and natural pesticides - as "hazardous substances," causing outrage among farmers and advocates of traditional medicine.
The plants - including ginger, turmeric, neem and chili - have been classified by the Industry Ministry as "hazardous substances type 1," requiring all manufacturers, growers, importers or exporters of any products made from the plants to follow strict safety and quality control rules or face up to six months in jail and a 50,000 baht ($1,400) fine.
The Neem Tree (Azadirachta indica) is an incredible plant that has been declared the "Tree of the 21st century" by the United Nations. Also known as the Margosa and native to the Indian subcontinent, it has been revered for centuries in Ayurvedic and Unani medicine. Ancient Hindu manuscripts contain chapters on medicinal plants to have near one's house and the Neem tree is highly recommended. The seeds, bark and leaves contain compounds with proven antiseptic, antiviral, anti-pyretic, anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcer and anti-fungal uses.
