Via Nefesh B’Nefesh:In a contest designed to make spirits soar, students in Grades 4 – 7 are invited to create a logo for one of Nefesh B’Nefesh’s Aliyah planes. One Grand Prize winner will be selected to have his/her design reproduced on a Nefesh B’Nefesh Aliyah plane and will receive roundtrip airfare and accommodations for two to Israel for a 4 day/3 night trip in the summer of 2009. This winner will also have his/her work posted on BabagaNewz.com and announced on www.nbn.org.il/contest. Three runners up will also have their artwork published and each will receive a gift pack from BabagaNewz.com.
The contest is currently underway and ends at 5:00 p.m. Monday, February 5th, 2009, and is open to students in the United States and Canada, except where prohibited. Complete rules and the official entry form (to be signed by parents) may be downloaded at BabagaNewz.com/destinationisrael.
BabagaNewz.com, an educational website for Jewish middle-schoolers and teachers, is teaming up with Nefesh B’Nefesh, the organization that is revitalizing Aliyah (immigration to Israel) from North America and the United Kingdom.
All entries will be reviewed by a panel of judges whose decisions are final. No purchase is necessary. Schools are encouraged to submit groups of individual entries, one per person.
The 2008 Weblog Award Finalists have been announced. Becoming a finalist is a bigger honor than winning, because finalists are chosen by committee. Winning requires lots of votes, so bigger blogs have an advantage. Of course, that may be sour grapes because last year I was a finalist in the category of Africa and the Middle East and came in fifth–I’ll let you be the judge.
Looking over the list I found many Jewish and Israeli blogs.
Religion: Jew Wishes
Africa and the Middle East (I was a finalist in this category last year): Israelly Cool, Elder of Ziyon, and Fundamentally Freund.
Technorati Authority 201-300: Israel Matzav
Technorati Authority 51-100: Daled Amos
Congratulations to all the finalists and I wish them all good luck in the final competition. It takes a few days for voting to be set up.
If I missed anyone please let me know and I’ll add you.
Some bloggers thrive on war news. They excel at live blogging, or explaining Israel’s point of view to the world at large. Neither approach works for me, as I avoid political discussions and have no inside information. And since my town is not directly affected, I find it difficult to write about the home-front situation. But here is my contribution.
I found out about the operation Shabbat afternoon, from a neighbor whose son is an officer. He was in training exercises all day Friday, and was ordered to appear at the airport on Shabbat at 3PM. The family had to make arrangements for someone else to pick up the car after Shabbat. During lunch he took calls from his soldiers, who apologized profusely for calling on Shabbat. When his mother asked whether he’d be coming home this weekend, he said it wasn’t likely.
I’ve spoken to a couple of friends who are in the range of the rockets, including one who has been experiencing kassam rockets from Gaza over the years. Now, she hears our attacks in Gaza. She is relieved that action is being taken, but there is an additional emotional toll. “Hannah,” she said, “You have no idea what one of those explosions sounds like. Even when you know it’s your side, your heart just flips over.”
My son in yeshiva is also in rocket range, and has had to go into a shelter a couple of times. He’s pretty blase about the whole thing so I guess I will be too, at least on his behalf.
If you’d like to help, Treppenwitz provided a list of worthy medical organizations. In addition, I’ve been getting updates about the action in the south from Connections Israel. Here is one of the recent emails:
Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s response to almost eight years of unending rocket attacks in Sderot and its surrounding environs, is in full gear. We must remember what effect this situation has on residents of the south. Chanukah vacation, which was spent predominantly indoors, has now moved into bomb shelters for the foreseeable future; shopping malls are forbidden to open; schools are closed indefinitely. The sounding of the Code Red alert now screams through additional communities on a constant basis, followed by loud booms, smoke and fire. Children and adults, who have tolerated this situation for so long are at their wits end. Being cooped up in small spaces drains everyone of their coping abilities and adds new levels of stress. If your relative or friend were living under these circumstances, you certainly would spare no expense to get them some relief. Kol Yisrael Achim – we are all brothers. Help us give our brothers some respite from their living conditions. Operation Take-a-Break is underway. We are sponsoring full day respite trips for the residents of the south. Bus loads of individuals will be given a “day off” to engage in relaxing, fun and age appropriate activities out of the line of fire. Each bus costs $500. In other words, for just $10 you can make a real difference in the life of an individual. Better yet, sponsor an entire bus and spare a community!
From the Motherlode blog at the New York Times, on Jewish couples who have conflicts about holiday customs similar to those of intermarried couples:
I heard recently from Tami Kamin-Meyer, a lawyer with two sons, ages 10 and 14, living in Columbus, OH. “Both my husband of nearly 16 years and I are Jewish,” she wrote in an e-mail. “But his brand of Judaism is far more American than mine. My family is Israeli, and while I am a first generation American, my celebration of Jewish holidays, including traditions and attitudes, are closely aligned with Israeli customs rather than American.” When their first child was born, her husband wanted to hang stockings in the living room, but she did not. (They don’t.) He is more comfortable with prayers and holiday songs in English, which she prefers them in Hebrew. (They incorporate a little of both.)
I didn’t know that hanging stockings is a Jewish-American Chanukah custom. But then I’ve been away a long time.
(I am being sarcastic here, but I guess it didn’t come through. Sarcasm doesn’t work so well on blogs.)
My post on Green Prophet yesterday turned out different than expected:
Why Baby’s First Gift Shouldn’t Be Formula from the Hospital
By Hannah Katsman
Soft drinks. Fast foods. Cigarettes.
Companies that market these products are well-known for targeting children and teens in order to develop “brand loyalty.”
But the campaign to capture the taste buds of future consumers begins even earlier–in the hospital nursery, where formula companies use aggressive methods to ensure that babies’ first taste of artificial milk comes early and bears the name of their company.
They know that parents are most likely to continue feeding the brand served to babies in the hospital.
What’s the problem with formula, and why is this a “green” issue?
Ironically, early introduction of formula and a diet of “junk” food are both implicated in increasing the incidence of diseases such as diabetes and obesity.
Formula companies insist that they do not want to undermine breastfeeding–they merely want to compete for their share of the formula market for women who cannot or choose not to breastfeed. Sound familiar?
Cigarette companies have long claimed that they do not encourage smoking and only want current smokers to switch brands. Most governments reject this claim and severely restrict the way tobacco companies market their products.
Breastfeeding is an easy target. It’s free, already under attack, earns little profit for anyone and therefore has virtually no corporate funds backing it. But just one bottle of formula compromises a baby’s immune system and increases the risk of illness in the short and long term.
A bottle of formula implies that formula is endorsed by the hospital, and worse, sends the not-so-subtle message that the mother’s own milk is not good or plentiful enough. And just like it only takes a few cigarettes to become addicted, early introduction of formula can lower milk supply and is associated with early weaning.
Israel and the WHO Code
The World Health Organization (WHO) recognized the deleterious effects of formula marketing on the health of babies and mothers and developed the WHO Code of Marketing Breastmilk Substitutes in 1974. The aim of the Code is to
. . . contribute to the provision of safe and adequate nutrition for infants, by the protection and promotion of breast-feeding, and by ensuring the proper use of breast-milk substitutes, when these are necessary, on the basis of adequate information and through appropriate marketing and distribution.
The Code prohibits companies from targeting pregnant women, parents and health-care workers with free samples and promotional and “educational” materials.
As a signatory, Israel is obligated to enforce these prohibitions. There has been some progress: Gift bags of formula samples are no longer given out to mothers as they leave the hospital, and formula advertising and samples have largely disappeared from Tipat Halav, the government-sponsored well-baby clinics. Yet serious infractions occur with the tacit approval of the health ministry.
Formula Companies Target Public Israeli Hospitals
In January 2008, Ynet investigated the relationship between Israeli maternity wards and the two large formula importers, Materna and Similac. (The third company, Remedia, withdrew from the market after a lack of vitamin B-1 in a batch of soy formula led to the deaths of three babies.)
Despite the fact that the hospitals are publicly owned, the hospitals and the health ministry refused to release data regarding their agreements.
Ynet reported that every three years hospitals submit a tender for their supply of infant formula. Usually, an institution tries to buy a product at the lowest possible price. But in the case of formula the companies actually pay hospitals for stocking their products exclusively. Reportedly these contracts earn hundreds of thousands of dollars of shekalim for the public hospitals, and at least one hospital received valuable state-of-the-art equipment.
Others received outings for its staff, linens, and funds to hire additional “lactation consultants,” creating a serious conflict of interest. In return companies earned the right to provide a constant supply of pre-mixed bottles of formula with the company’s name and logo in large letters.
Ninety percent want to nurse, only 70% do
According to health ministry statistics, 90% of pregnant women intend to nurse, but a full 70% of babies receive their first bottle in the hospital. It’s easy for a nurse to offer a bottle to a mother who has even a mild concern about her baby’s feeding patterns. Worse, babies often receive formula against parents’ wishes. Hospitals allow a situation where overworked staff suggest formula instead of ensuring that trained staff sit with the mother, answer her questions and help her breastfeed. But Israel’s health-care system may be acting against its own interests by accepting formula money–one study showed that the it costs huge sums to treat health problems of formula-fed babies in the first year alone.
Big business must be kept out of the public health system through legislation, and Israel should not permit infant-formula companies to influence health-care decisions relating to newborns. Parents deserve accurate, unbiased information about the risks of formula. The health ministry must ensure that all mothers have easy access to instruction, information, and their babies–without input from self-interested parties.
Often there are questions about whether a newborn is getting enough to eat. The appropriate medical response is to evaluate the situation, and, if necessary, encourage the mother to express colostrum–her own antibody-rich milk. Formula should be reserved for cases when it is truly needed. Stopping formula gifts to hospitals is a critical step in ensuring that our babies get the healthy start they deserve.
Reprinted with permission from Green Prophet.
Related:
Babies and Breastfeeding: What Did You Not Know but Wish You Had? Thanks to the readers who shared moving stories in the comments.
Breastfeeding and Judaism
Guest Post on Crunchy Domestic Goddess: Diane Wiessinger in Israel on Breastfeeding Language
Twitter links powered by Tweet This v1.7, a WordPress plugin for Twitter.
