RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/12/opinion/happy-hanukkah-candles-swastikas.html

Tonight, and for the next seven nights, millions of Jews around the world will light a menorah to celebrate Hanukkah. Akiva Mansbach will be one of them. But his isn’t just any menorah. In its multigenerational life, its light has also touched the darkness.

In Kiel, Germany, in 1932, Rabbi Dr. Akiva Posner and his wife, Rachel, lit the menorah and placed it on their window sill. Directly across the street was a Nazi flag.

One of the essential components of Hanukkah is “persumei nisa,” or publicizing the miracle — the miracle being the triumph of a small band of Jews, the Maccabees, who led a revolt and conquered their Seleucid persecutors in the second century before the Common Era. As tradition has it, when the Holy Temple was being rededicated and its golden menorah lit, there was only enough oil to last for one day. Miraculously, the small supply burned for eight.

The Talmud contains detailed guidelines of how to publicize the miracle, with extensive commentary on where the menorah would be most visible to people walking by. The rabbis also discussed foot traffic in marketplaces: They wanted to make sure that people lit their candles when pedestrians were flooding the streets.

There’s one more crucial detail the rabbis insisted on: In a time of danger, they said, the lighting of the Hanukkah candles can take place in one’s home, on one’s table, away from the gaze of the hostile outside world.

But this escape clause didn’t suffice for the Posners. In 1932, just before Hitler’s rise to power, their menorah shone brightly for all their neighbors to see. Its light — and the meaning behind it — was made all the more incandescent given the symbol of Jew-hatred hanging from the building across the street.

The poignancy of the juxtaposition didn’t escape Rachel Posner. She took a photograph of the menorah and the swastika. On its back, she scribbled in German, “ ‘Death to Judah’ so the flag says, ‘Judah will live forever,’ so the light answers.”

Rabbi Posner, Rachel and their three children left Germany for the Holy Land in 1933. Rabbi Posner managed to persuade many of his congregants to leave as well.

Israel’s contributions to science, technology, medicine, agriculture, and social and culture institutions are models for the entire world. This compilation from Michael Ordman comes on the cusp of Chanukah which is very apposite. Today’ Maccabees triumph over disease, famine, parched and arid earth, giving succor and hope to millions of people in every continent.

Happy Chanukah to all regardless of your faith. Celebrating freedom is religion neutral. Best wishes for peace and joy, and a special greeting to my friend Michael Ordman. rsk

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Silencing tumor communications. Researchers at Israel’s Technion Institute have developed a breakthrough cancer treatment by injecting analgesic nanoparticles into the bloodstream. These anaesthetize the nerves inside the tumors, shutting down communications between them, thus inhibiting tumor growth and spread.
https://www.jns.org/innovative-breast-cancer-treatment-uses-anesthesia-of-nervous-system-around-tumor/
https://www.technion.ac.il/en/2021/10/nervous-system-inhibit-breast-cancer/
 
Immunotherapy dose reduced by a million. The NanoGhost cancer treatment targeted delivery mechanism developed by scientists at Israel’s Technion Institute is truly revolutionary (see here previously).  It enables the dose of existing immunotherapies (e.g., TRAIL) to be reduced by a millionfold, to prevent toxic side effects.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/immunotherapy-drug-now-works-with-a-millionth-of-a-dose-thanks-to-israeli-tech/   https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/adfm.202105701
 
Insulin pump gets attention. Israel’s Triple Jump is developing a unique small insulin pump patch that is placed on the patient’s body. The patch has mobile connectivity capabilities and will be included in a future artificial pancreas system. The device has attracted interest from medical devices giant Medtronic.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3920375,00.html
https://finder.startupnationcentral.org/company_page/triple-jump
 
Diabetes cured – in mice. Researchers at Israel’s Technion Institute genetically modified muscle stem cells from diabetic mice to express high levels of GLUT4 molecules, which transport glucose in the body. When re-implanted into the mice, it reduced blood sugar levels by an average of 26% and lowered levels of fatty liver.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/diabetes-reversed-in-mice-for-4-months-after-one-time-implant-from-israeli-lab/
https://www.jns.org/technion-biomed-engineers-assess-novel-approach-to-treating-type-2-diabetes/
 
Hospital to launch neurology startups. Tel Aviv’s Sourasky (Ichilov) Medical Center and Ra’anana’s Sanara Ventures are partnering to turn ideas and projects developed in the neurology department into groundbreaking projects in the fields of digital health and neurology. These include brain diseases, strokes and sleep disorders.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3919539,00.html
 
An Israeli medical hub in New Jersey. Israel’s Sheba Medical Center is partnering the Liberty Science Center in New Jersey to develop Liberty ARC HealthSpace2030 – a high-tech hospital simulation hub on at Jersey City’s SciTech Scity innovation campus. It will focus on digital health and home healthcare solutions.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/israels-largest-hospital-to-develop-digital-health-simulation-hub-in-new-jersey/
 
Keeping employees healthy. Israel’s Insurights has developed an AI platform to help employees utilize their health benefits. It answers questions, highlights preventive care benefits, and finds lower-cost providers. Its key feature is Zoe, a “Virtual Chief Health Officer,” who can analyze any insurer’s healthcare plan.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3920525,00.html  https://www.insurights.com/
 
Networking for patients. Israel’s Alike.Health connects patients with a similar medical condition at various stages of treatment or illness, allowing them to learn from each other about ways to cope. The startup has just been selected to join the “Google for Startups Accelerator”, Google’s 3-month mentoring program.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3921201,00.html  https://www.alike.health/
 
It’s never too late. A 102-year-old woman has become the first Israeli to undergo cryoablation (freezing) treatment for breast cancer developed by Israel’s IceCure (see here previously). The usual surgical solution was not an option for her, as a previous heart catheterization meant that an operation was too risky.
https://worldisraelnews.com/102-year-old-israeli-first-to-try-locally-developed-breast-cancer-treatment/
 

I AM OUT OF TOWN. BACK TOMORROW.

NO POSTINGS TODAY…..I AM OUT OF TOWN….RSK

This headline annoyed me:https://www.dailywire.com/news/british-parliament-unloads-on-biden-biden-may-have-condemned-the-world-to-chinese-domination-in-future

British Parliament Unloads On Biden: ‘Biden May Have Condemned The World To Chinese Domination In Future’

Really??? After their disgusting and cowardly surrender of Hong Kong, leaving thousands of freedom loving citizens to the “mercies” of the Communist government of China.

https://amgreatness.com/2021/06/29/joe-manchin-is-a-fake/

I have a number of friends who are excited about the impending results of the Arizona election audit. I also have a little knowledge of what’s going on there, though perhaps not much beyond what is available to the average American. What I tell my friends is: Don’t get your hopes up.

My home state of Connecticut had a Republican governor in recent memory and, not long before that, no state income tax. In the 2010 gubernatorial election, Democrat Dan Malloy was trailing Republican Tom Foley statewide, even as the counting seemed to be wrapping up. But then—shazam!—a bag of uncounted ballots was “found” in McLevy Hall. As the Connecticut Post reported at the time, “Even as Foley’s campaign demanded the ballots be taken by State Police to Hartford for counting by a neutral authority, city officials insisted the existence of the ballots previously had been disclosed and that Bridgeport election workers would count them Thursday night.”

They were still counting in Bridgeport three days after the election. They eventually came up with enough votes in that single city to erase Foley’s statewide lead. Malloy was declared the winner, and Connecticut has been an uncontestable blue state ever since.

Any of this sound familiar?

The problem with a careful audit of the ballots is that most vote fraud has been sanctioned by state law. In Georgia, for example, a consent decree signed by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger changed the process of signature verification so that when an official notices a mismatch he now has to consult with two other officials and they have to agree by a two-out-of-three vote that the signature doesn’t match. Then they have to put their names in writing to record their appraisal of the matter and they mail the voter in question a provisional ballot, giving him an opportunity to “cure” the mismatch. In practice, therefore, signature verification never happens.

And of course, once a ballot has been separated from its envelope—as they all have been by now—there is no way to reconnect the two, even if auditors find a suspicious signature. Which means there is no way to cure the fraudulent vote itself. That is why mail-in voting is such a bonanza for fraud, and why the Democrats have worked so hard to make it the norm. The toxic Voting Rights Lab was proud to note in a recent report that only two-thirds of voters cast their ballots on Election Day in 2016, and in 2020, only one third voted on election day. So we’re told.

No posting until June 10…rsk