Jewish music producer helped Aretha Franklin get her big break

Aretha Franklin, the “Queen of Soul,” died Thursday at the age of 76. Her death reverberated so deeply that an incredible array of people from around the world, from US presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama to musicians Paul McCartney and Diana Ross, took to social media to pay tribute.

Though the legendary singer’s first album was released in 1956, it took her years to achieve mainstream success. She rose to prominence in large part from the 1967 smash hit “Respect,” a cover of Otis Redding’s song from two years earlier that achieved much greater popularity than the original.

The man who helped her record “Respect” was the producer Jerry Wexler, a one-time journalist and the son of a German Jewish father and Polish Jewish mother from the Bronx, New York.

Wexler persuaded her to leave Columbia Records in 1966 and sign with Atlantic Records, where he was an executive. They would form a close artist-producer bond, and Wexler would go on to produce multiple albums of hers. It was his idea to have Franklin cover “Respect.”

Jerry Wexler and Aretha Franklin 

We Finally Found The Audio Of the President Using the 'N' Word

Half of Yeshivas Under Investigation Denied Entry to Education Officials

Three years after the city launched an investigation into whether certain ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/06/nyregion/critics-say-city-has-not-investigated-yeshivas-breaking-pledge.html] were providing an adequate education in secular subjects, it revealed on Thursday that it had made little progress. 

In a letter to the state’s Education Department seeking guidance, Richard A. Carranza, New York City schools chancellor, acknowledged that investigators had managed to visit only half the schools involved.

Black Democratic legislator called Asian opponent 'ching-chong'

A Democratic legislator in Michigan running for the state senate is under fire for allegedly referring to her Asian election opponent as "ching-chang" and "ching-chong."

Rep. Bettie Cook Scott (D) is accused of making the remarks to voters outside polling stations during this week's primaries, according to the Detroit Metro Times.

She was allegedly referring to Rep. Stephanie Chang (D), who has denounced the remarks.

Scott is also accused of calling one of Chang's campaign volunteers an "immigrant" and saying that she wanted the person out of the country. 

Chemical In Some Breakfast Cereals Could Cause Cancer

Select oat cereals, granola and other food products may contain a pesticide that could cause cancer, according to a report released by the Environmental Working Group.

Glyphosate, an herbicide linked to cancer by scientists in California and the World Health Organization was found in 43 of 45 samples of oat products in an independent test commissioned by the organization.

According to the report, “Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup, the Monsanto weed killer that is the most heavily used pesticide in the U.S. Last week, a California jury ordered Monsanto to pay $289 million in damages to a man dying of cancer, which he says was caused by his repeated exposure to large quantities of Roundup and other glyphosate-based weed killers while working as a school groundskeeper.”

In response, the EWG tested more than a dozen brands of oat-based products to determine if high levels of Glyphosate was present.

The EWG noted that each year, more than 250 million pounds of glyphosate are sprayed on American crops, primarily on “Roundup-ready” corn and soybeans genetically engineered to withstand the herbicide. But when it comes to the food we eat, the highest glyphosate levels are not found in products made with GMO corn.

Among the items tested include:

Crazed Frum Stores Cover Up Female Cartoon Character On Cereal Box!

Zionists will allow yeshiva students to fly to Uman Even though They Didn't Serve In The IDF

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman decided to relax regulations requiring those possessing exemptions from military service to receive special permission to travel overseas in order to enable yeshiva students to visit Uman for the high holidays.

Under Israeli law, haredi yeshiva students who do not serve in the IDF are forbidden from flying overseas until they are 27 without obtaining approval first from the Defense Ministry. These regulations put a burden on haredim who wished to spend the Rosh Hashana holiday in Uman

.

According to Kikar Hashabbat, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman acceded to Interior Minister Aryeh Deri's request for a rule change after the Shas leader made it clear that he was not seeking a sweeping change in the guidelines.

I will ask you to order the military authorities to permit exceptions to those who leave for Rosh Hashana prayers in Uman to leave the country for up to ten days without harming their status vis-a-vis the military authorities," wrote Deri.

"This request is for this individual purpose and should not be discarded as a broad projection of the sweeping change in procedures."

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, founder of the Breslov Hassidic movement, was buried in the Ukrainian town of Uman 207 years ago.

Followers of Rebbe Nachman made regular pilgrimages to his tomb, though the annual tradition was largely abandoned during the Cold War.

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the end of the Cold War, however, led to a resurgence in the traditional Rosh Hashana visits to Uman, which by the early 2000s began to draw wider appeal even beyond the Breslov movement.

The Uman pilgrimage drew a record 40,000 participants this past September, up from some 30,000 in 2016.

Woman murdered in terror attack near Havat Gilad

 A woman in her 40s was murdered in a ramming terrorist attack that took place Thursday night near Havat Gilad in Samaria.

Magen David Adom paramedics attempted to resuscitate the victim, but were forced to declare her death.

IDF forces searched the area for the terrorist, who later surrendered himself to the authorities.

In January, Rabbi Raziel Shevach of Havat Gilad was murdered in a drive-by shooting attack.

Parshat Shoftim ...

by Rabbi Shmuel Knopfler

Parshat Shoftim delves into the need to establish a judicial system in every town and village, for every tribe. The Torah adamantly requires us to maintain an incorruptible judicial system, forbids taking bribes, and so on. Our sages emphasize the severity of taking bribes, and describe how judges kept away from anything that had the . remote semblance of a conflict of interest. The Talmud tell us that a judge would never entertain the thought of hearing the case of a friend who had “greeted him nicely” a few days earlier.

The Torah also commands us to establish a certain hierarchy in our judicial system, so that when the need arises, substantial issues will be deliberated at the high court, which was seated in Jerusalem.
Anyone who refused to abide by the court’s rulings would be considered a “zaken mamreh” – a “rebellious elder” – and severely punished.

Oldest hippopotamus in captivity dies at Jerusalem zoo

Tami, believed to be the oldest hippopotamus in captivity, died on Thursday at the age of 59 in her sleep at Jerusalem's Biblical Zoo, the zoo announced.

She was found dead in the lake of the African-themed area where she lived in the zoo run by Israeli authorities in Jerusalem, a statement said.

She was "the oldest hippopotamus living in a zoo," it said.

"She died at an advanced age, surrounded by lots of love and respect."

She was the last hippo at the zoo after the death of Mati, a male, some 10 years ago.

Tami had quickly established herself as dominant among the giraffes, zebras and rhinos in the African area, it said.

"It is a difficult day for us," zoo employee Gilad Moshe told the Yisrael Hayom newspaper. "A little like losing a friend."

In July 2017, Bertha, believed at the time to be the world's oldest hippopotamus in captivity, died aged 65 at Manila Zoo in the Philippines.

Prior to that, Donna, who died in 2012 at the age of 62 at the US Mesker Park Zoo and Botanic Garden in Evansville, Indiana, was said to be the world's oldest hippo, according to media reports at the time.

Hippos tend to live for between 40 and 50 years. The mostly herbivorous and semiaquatic animals are found in central and southern Africa.

Jerusalem's Biblical Zoo was founded in 1939 and contains some 250 species, most of which are named in the Bible.