Virtual Shtetl

The "Virtual Shtetl" is devoted to the Jewish history of Poland. Currently, the portal is a source of information, but in the future it will also include an interactive system by which Internet users will interact with each other. It will create a link between Polish-Jewish history and the contemporary multicultural world.  The link here is to a video of Robert Kuwałek from the State Museum at Majdanek of tells about commemorating the Bełżec death camp.  http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/video/1058/

Holocaust Remembrance Day - Yom Hashoah

Holocaust Remembrance Day - Yom Hashoah - is this Sunday, May 1.  There are innumerable resources about the Shoah on the internet.  Here I would bring to your attention that Netflix has many important films on the Holocaust, both documentaries and fictional accounts, and many are available on demand over your computer.  JewishWebcasting.com also lists a huge number of multimedia resources on the Shoah, at http://jewishwebcasting.com/holocaust.htm .

Iranian Jewry: From Past to Present

Webcast of lectures from the 2008 conference organized by the University of Maryland and the Library of Congress. The Jews of Iran comprise not only one of the oldest populations of Jews in the world, but also one of the most ancient threads in the diverse fabric of the ancient Iranian community. Beginning with the Achaemenid period (550-330 B.C.) and lasting beyond the emigration of a portion of Iran's Jewish population to the United States and Israel in the late 1970s, Jews have had a complex interaction with the Persian state and culture. The morning session focused on Jews in Medieval Persian Cultures and Resources for the Study of Iranian Jewry. Click here for the Morning session: http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=4507 . The afternoon session focused on Jewish Material Culture and Folk Art and Jewish Culture in Twentieth Century Iran. Click here for the Afternoon session:  http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=4508

iPhone’s Hebrew keyboard

Here's an older article from the "j weekly" of San Francisco that I've just run across; it's still worth reading if you're interested in using Hebrew with your smartphone. 


*************************************************

 

First look at the iPhone’s new Hebrew keyboard

12:42 pm Thursday, June 18, 2009 by rachel leibold

This was the first e-mail I sent from my iPhone after updating the OS to 3.0 last night:

(Translation: "Sweet, I'm writing in Hebrew!")

I know, I'm a huge nerd, but when my boyfriend and I were tittering back and forth during the keynote speech at WWDC a few weeks ago, my big joyful moment was not copy-paste, it was this: "yay, Hebrew supported, woot!" I'm majorly excited about the iPhone (and iPod Touch) finally having a Hebrew keyboard, as well as displaying Hebrew properly (i.e. not backward).

I assume Hebrew wasn't supported in 2.0 because the iPhone isn't yet sold in Israel - and while that's still the case, there are probably enough Silicon Valley ex-pats/Israelis who are, er, "somehow" using the iPhone in Israel to make a Hebrew keyboard a Very Useful Thing Indeed.

Anyway, in case you're wondering how to get the magic of Hebrew on your very own iPhone, here's how to do it (after you've upgraded to 3.0, that is): In the Settings app, click on General, then Keyboard, then International Keyboards. Scroll down to find Hebrew (be sure not to accidentally turn on the Greek keyboard, like I did) and then flick the switch to "on":

Now, when you use any program that allows typing, you'll see a little globe symbol next to the button you press to toggle between letters and numbers/symbols. When you click on the globe, you'll toggle between the English and Hebrew keyboards:

Neat!

That's not all you can do in Hebrew with the iPhone - you can also set the entire system to run in Hebrew (under Settings, click on General, then International, then Language, and choose עברית). Beware, though - if you don't speak Hebrew, it can be a wee bit difficult to turn it back.

The update also adds an internal Hebrew dictionary, so that annoying/super useful autocorrect feature? Will change your עולמs to עולםs with ease.

Netflix - Great Source of Jewish & Israeli Films

Netflix is to my knowledge the best source of Jewish and Israeli movies anywhere in the US. And, dozens of the movies are available "on demand", meaning that you can stream the movies over the internet to your computer. Of course, if your computer is connected to or has a great monitor, you can watch movies with high resolution, just like your TV. In our house, we've connected a basic computer to the TV, connected a remote keyboard to the computer, and then we curl up on the sofa and watch Jewish and Israeli movies, as well as Israeli TV! Here's a snapshot of some of the movies in our "on demand" que of Israeli movies to watch.
http://www.netflix.com/

Jewish iPhone App on CBS Sunday Morning

The April 24th edition of CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood had a story on religion and technology which included an interview with the developers at RustyBrick of Jewish apps, including most recently the "iPhone Siddur." Here is the video segment covering the app as well as other religious apps and technology. While the majority of the program is not about Jewish technology, it is great to see Jewish technology highlighted in the media and the story deals with important issues concerning religion and technology that are directly relevant to the Jewish experience.

Wolf Blitzer interviews Israeli President Shimon Peres

Wolf Blitzer interviewed Israeli President Shimon Peres on April 5, 2011. They spoke about a number of issues including popular political uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East, the stability of peace between Israel and Egypt, negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and threats to regional security.

Women's Roundtable Podcast from Lilith & the Forward

In this edition of the Women’s Roundtable podcast, a co-production of the Forward’s Sisterhood blog and Lilith magazine, panelists weigh in on what fashion has to say about piety, and they take a look at how feminist Passover rituals have evolved. Lilith editor Susan Weidman Schneider, Lilith associate editor Sonia Isard and Sisterhood contributor Debra Nussbaum Cohen join Sisterhood editor Gabrielle Birkner for the discussion.

Learn Hebrew with Online Audio (free)

Just came across this announcement from Jacob Richman:

This week, I launched a new website called Learn Hebrew Phrases with Audio. Learn Hebrew Phrases with Audio is a free, on-line, educational resource to learn Hebrew phrases and sentences. The flash site incorporates 54 topics with 1,200 Hebrew phrases and sentences. The Hebrew phrases are presented as images with nikud [vowels]. There are English translations and transliterations. The high quality audio was created in a sound studio. The site includes 152 Hebrew study sheets for learning offline. Both the student and the teacher will find the site easy to use and very educational. As mentioned, the site is free to all. Feedback is welcome. Please forward this message to anyone that may be interested in learning Hebrew. 

The site url is: http://www.in-hebrew.co.il/

Also, it's not just audio; it's also visual and it looks great!

College App for Jews Coming From Hillel

ejewishphilanthropy.com reports that

As the largest organization in the world with a focus on university-age Jews, Hillel reaches young adults during a decisive time in their lives when they are open to influences and experiences that will shape their commitment to the Jewish people. Hillel already makes Jewish life accessible to college students physically (at over 550 colleges and communities around the world) and mentally (through meaningful experiences and education); it’s time that we make it accessible virtually (through a mobile app). Thanks to the Jewish New Media Fund grant, Hillel will develop a new model of Jewish community engagement by placing access to Jewish life directly in the palm of students’ hands.  The Hillel mobile app will not only provide information about a school, but convey a real feeling for Jewish life on that campus through video, photos, peer-reviews and more. A dynamic college search will allow high school students (and parents and guidance counselors) to explore university profiles based on geo-location or self-selected criteria. The university profiles will include data, video, photos, and articles on Jewish student population, Jewish organizations on campus, and Jewish Studies courses/degrees. It will also provide details on Israel study abroad and travel opportunities, religious services, food (kosher and non-kosher dining options), Jewish housing, and nearby synagogues and JCCs.

Khalikidan's Passover Seder

Here's a lovely video about a young Israeli girl from Ethiopia who helps her family prepare for the Passover Seder.  From Shalom Sesame.  http://shalomsesame.org/videos/passover_seder.html

Siddur Audio

Unfamiliarity with the Hebrew liturgy is an obstacle which keeps many from experiencing the joy and ruach of participating fully in their synagogue services. This website's aim is to help people acquire the skills to overcome that hurdle.  http://www.sidduraudio.com/index.html

Tech Jew heard about this website from its creator, Rabbi Mark Zimmerman, in a comment sent to Tech Jew 4/11/2011.  Thanks for letting us know!  Here's the comment:

I enjoyed reading your "Tech-Jew" blog. I am a Conservative (also techy) rabbi here in Atlanta, GA.

I thought that you may be interested in knowing about my online web resource that is geared to helping our community learn to chant the Siddur liturgy. The site contains audio clips to learn selections from our Shabbat services, home rituals and weekday davening. I also have made selections from the Passover Haggadah available online.

My website's URL is: http://www.sidduraudio.com

Recently, I also uploaded the entire year of Haftarot on my new website here: http://haftorahaudio.com which is linked to sidduraudio.com as well.

Please feel free to share with whoever might be interested, and if you would ever like any more info please feel free to contact me...

Hag Sameyach,
Rav Mark
Rabbi Mark Zimmerman
Congregation Beth Shalom
Atlanta, Georgia - (770) 399-5300
CBS Web Site: http://bshalom.net
Learn Siddur at: http://sidduraudio.com

Achla Muzika on WBRS

Achla Muzika serves as a center for Israeli music and culture at Brandeis and beyond. Whether through playful themes, the introduction of new musical works, announcements of events of interest, or ticket giveaways to relevant concerts and events, the show and its host seek to broaden familiarity and knowledge of Israeli culture and happenings among listeners. Achla Muzika has been on the air since January 2008 and accepts requests and comments at israeli@wbrs.org .  http://achlamuzika.mypodcast.com

The World and Us

From Melbourne, Australia, "The World and Us” is a one hour program that since September 2010 has been broadcast weekly (with a repeat on Sundays)  [except on JewishHolidays] by the Melbourne Jewish Radio Station Lion FM.  Lion FM  Melbourne Jewish Radio has been broadcasting 24/7 [recorded music only on Shabbat & festivals] on FM locally to Melbourne since September 2010, and is live on the Internet at  http://www.lionfm.org/ .  "The World and Us" is located at http://theroar.info/

Sha'ar La'matchil and Internet Explorer 9 - Compatibility View Needed

For web readers of Sha'ar La'matchil, the easy Hebrew newspaper:
The latest version of Internet Explorer, version 9, does not run the newspaper properly.  While the Sha'ar La'matchil website opens, the newspaper does not load normally.  You need to turn on the "compatibility view" option; that is found on the Menu bar under the Tools tab.

UCLA Course - Holocaust in Film and Literature

Holocaust in Film and Literature is a course that provides insight into the History of Holocaust and its present memory through examination of challenges and problems encountered in trying to imagine its horror through media of literature and film. About the Professor: Todd Presner is Associate Professor of Germanic Languages, Comparative Literature, and Jewish Studies. His research focuses on German-Jewish intellectual and cultural history, the history of media, visual culture, digital humanities, and cultural geography. He is the author of two books: The first, Mobile Modernity: Germans, Jews, Trains (Columbia University Press, 2007), maps German-Jewish intellectual history onto the development of the railway system; the second, Muscular Judaism: The Jewish Body and the Politics of Regeneration (Routledge, 2007), analyzes the aesthetic dimensions of the strong Jewish body.
http://www.youtube.com/user/UCLACourses#grid/user/E162D5967A29AA3B

Jewish Billionaire From Nowhere With Big Jewish TV Plans

The Jewish Week reports that

Alexander Machkevitch, 57, is a Jewish billionaire little known in America, and from a country virtually unknown in the West — Kyrgyzstan, a Muslim republic of the former Soviet Union. He was in the U.S. last week, seeking a higher profile in announcing his plan to launch an international news network that would rival Al Jazeera and “deliver true information all over the world.”  Although motivated in part by his belief that media coverage of Israel is biased against the Jewish state, Machkevitch said that reports in the Israeli press that he planned to start a Jewish Al Jazeera were off base and too limiting. He says he intends to offer a global network in virtually every language as a means of increasing understanding rather than promoting conflict.

Interesting at various levels.  One wonders why US Jewry has not yet underwritten a meaningful Jewish TV station.  Come to think of it, we don't even have a 21st Century Jewish radio station!

For more details of the story, click here:
http://www.thejewishweek.com/editorial_opinion/gary_rosenblatt/being_alexander_machkevitch_jewish_billionaire_nowhere_big_plans

PM Releases Pessah Greeting Video

The Jerusalem Post reports (4/14/2011)

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu released a Pessah greeting via YouTube on Thursday.

"Have a happy and kosher Pessah," the prime minister said. "Spend time with your families, enjoy the Seder, read the Haggadah."

"For me, and probably for you too, Pessah is one of the most unique Jewish holidays," Netanyahu said in Hebrew. "It is part of a tradition that is thousands of years old, and tells us one thing: Without freedom, there is no existence. The Jewish People were slaves in Egypt, and could not defend themselves from Pharoh's armies. Only when they were freed from Egypt, only when they could escape the exploitation, only when they saved themselves, could they reach the Land of Israel and be a sovereign and free nation in their land. Only then was Jewish existence ensured."

G-dcast's Passover Video

G-dcast is a non-profit production company dedicated to raising worldwide Jewish literacy using the tools and storytelling style that speak to today’s youth. To date, they have created 62 short films - all available for free on their website - based on Jewish texts that have been viewed nearly a million times on the web, social media networks and mobile devices. Their companion curricula are in use by over 3000 educators at institutions across the Jewish spectrum and around the world.

Here's a sample of their great work.



The Passover Seder...With the Four Sons! from G-dcast.com

More Torah cartoons at www.g-dcast.com

Comcast To Debut Holocaust Film Series

The Forward reports that
http://blogs.forward.com/the-shmooze/#story-2

"Comcast, which bills itself as “one of the world’s leading media, entertainment and communications companies,” is about to launch an on-demand series of films connected to Steven Spielberg. But don’t expect “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”  Instead, as The New York Times reports today, Philadelphia-based Comcast “is distributing 10 films about the Holocaust in a public service project it is calling Days of Remembrance.” Through an unprecedented arrangement with the USC Shoah Foundation Institute, which Spielberg founded in 1994 to collect testimony of Holocaust survivors, Comcast will give its customers access to ten films, some in English and some in other languages, through video-on-demand and an iPad app, the Times reports. Others will be able to stream the films at XfinityTV.com. Pegged to Holocaust Remembrance Day on May 1, the streaming will start Monday and last through May 25."

Read more: http://blogs.forward.com/the-shmooze/#story-2#ixzz1JNfrwQON

iPhone Can Be Very Jewish

A couple of days ago I blogged that I do not prefer Apple for Jewish uses generally.  Today I'd like to offer a full-throated endorsement of the iPhone for some valuable Jewish uses.  I'm right now doing housework and am listening to Israeli radio through my iPhone.  As I am not fluent, this is a great way to immerse myself in a living Hebrew lesson.  I use three different apps to get Israeli and Jewish the radio stations - IsraeliRadio, Jewish Radio and VisualRadio.  They are all available at the Apple App store and they are either free or inexpensive.  They bring Israeli stations and Jewish stations from around the world to your fingertips; the audio quality is also outstanding.  This is wonderfully convenient and much more user-friendly than any other manner to access Jewish and Israeli radio previously available.  Apple clearly is the leader is this area of Jewish life.

Justin Bieber Interview, One Song World & More

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Radio/News.aspx/3052
A7 Radio's "Israel Beat Jewish Music Podcast" with Ben Bresky reports on the new Israeli website called One Song World which is revolutionizing the music world. Veteren producer Jonty Zwebner talks about the new venture which allows artists and radio stations of all genres better exposure. Plus, a Justin Beiber interview from Arutz HaYeladim about his upcoming concert in Tel Aviv. Also, awesome new Jewish music from: Roi Levy, Yitzchok Meir and the Jewish Unity Project, Jeremy Pesach Stadlin, Darkcho, Mendy Jerufi, and a classic anti-Hitler song from blue legend Leadbelly.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Radio/News.aspx/3052

iPad, Xoom, iPhone, Netbooks, Etc - What's Best?

I've just completed a hands-on review of a couple of the leading new technology products to see what works best with Jewish radio, TV, podcasts and webcasts.  For me, the decision came down to the netbook that I'm using right now because it is compatible with the most programs and the only downside is that it is larger than a tablet, though that is not a critical issue for me.

The major problem with Apple products relative to Jewish multimedia is their inability to play "Flash", the multimedia software widely used on the net.  As a consequence, a huge array of important programs of Jewish interest do not work.  The programs that do not play include everything from the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA), meaning of course the daily newscasts and much more, as well as my favorite easy Hebrew newspaper, Sha'ar La'matchil.


Notwithstanding the hype about The Xoom tablet, using Google's new "Honeycomb" OS and advertised to be compatible with Flash, in actuality the Xoom does not play all Flash programs, including the IBA audio and video programming.  Very frustrating.

So, I headed back to the Windows environment and found a netbook that does everything at much less cost.  While the netbook is not as gee-whiz as a tablet, and I do like the gee-whiz (I love my iPhone), I've for the moment found my sweetspot for accessing Jewish multimedia.

Forward's Reporters' Roundtable Addresses Richard Goldstone, The Ford Foundation Leaving Israel, and more

In this week’s podcast, host Josh Nathan-Kazis speaks with assistant managing editor, Larry Cohler-Esess and staff writers Gal Beckerman and Nathan Guttman about what motivated Richard Goldstone to declare in a Washington Post opinion piece that he no longer believed that Israel had a policy of targeting Palestinian civilians during its military incursion into Gaza in 2008–2009. Then the panel discusses why the Ford Foundation is pulling funding from predominantly liberal Israeli NGOs. And in the new segment, “The Best Jewish Story that Didn’t Make the Paper,” the panel takes a look at the travel itinerary of the Crown Prince of Spain before his upcoming visit to the Middle East.
http://forward.com/articles/136855/

Eichmann Trial Uploaded to YouTube

Eichmann Trial Uploaded to YouTube
Israel National News reports that the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial project has marked the passage of 50 years since the trial of Adolf Eichmann by uploading footage of the entire trial to YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/EichmannTrialEN). Eichmann, one of the major planners of the Holocaust genocide, was put on trial in Israel in 1961, after having been captured by Israeli agents in Argentina.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/143475