Schmoozer (Audio Edition)

Technology is transforming the way we play and learn. Apps are a wonderful way to learn in a fun and interactive environment. We had the opportunity to speak with Barry and Ronnie Schwartz of Rusty Brick about their work and the Jewish app landscape.

RustyBrick is a New York Web service firm specializing in customized online technology that helps companies decrease costs and increase sales. RustyBrick’s Web services include; Web page design, Web development, logo design, e-commerce, mobile Web development, iPhone development, search engine optimization and more. Since 1994, RustyBrick has been creating Web software for businesses and organizations of all kinds.

RustyBrick designs premier iPhone & mobile applications for the Jewish market. They also work with clients such as MTV, Harper HarperCollins, Comedy Central, Harvard University and many more. RustyBrick also designed the most popular Siddur for the iPhone athttp://rustybrick.com/siddur and has some of the most popular Jewish apps at http://rustybrick.com/iphone.

This week, Aaron “The Schmoz” Herman was on vacation. But that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have a new episode for us. Insteard, Aaron gave us a look at what to do when you are on a vacation where there is no kosher food available.

He shows us how he prepares La Briute foods, kosher foods that can be prepared on-the-go.

LaBriute Meals is an exciting product line. LaBriute has become a leading force in the ever expanding Kosher food industry. Their raison d’être is the belief that the Kosher consumer is no less entitled to the latest opportunities and conveniences available to the broader consumer market. Hence, for close to a decade now, LaBriute Meals has stood at the forefront of this emerging market, integrating contemporary innovations in food production, packaging and preparation technologies into the Kosher food sector.

With their close involvement in the foodservice industry, LaBriute Meals has its “finger on the pulse” of the ever-evolving lifestyle of the Kosher consumer. The increasing prominence of the kosher observant dieter in all segments of society is steadily giving rise to new needs for Kosher provisions in remote or limited access locations. This led them to become active in the developing market for shelf-stable and self-heating meals. Based on a technology developed for the US Armed Forces, this idea is actually a two-fold breakthrough for the Kosher food vending industry. Firstly, the creation of a refrigeration-free shelf life of up to 36 months is unprecedented. In addition, the Flameless Heat-Up option of creating a hot, nutritious, Glatt Kosher meal wherever… whenever… is nothing less than revolutionary.

LaBriute’s meals are wholesome and nutritious, and our unique retorting process has absolutely no effect on the taste or texture of the food. The flameless food heater is also 100% safe for use anywhere.

Following extensive research and development, we are now proud to present you with our exciting product lines. Utilizing the latest cutting edge technology; we take pride in being the innovators of “Glatt Kosher Shelf-Stable and Self-Heating Meals”.

In this episode, he explored what it takes to be a judge in a wine competition? How do you judge wines? He also had the opportunity to learn how the judges of the Jewish Week’s Grand Wine Tasting rate wines and pick the finalist for the wine competition.

At the Jewish Week’s grand wine tasting you will be able to:

• Talk to Kosher wine vintners, wine experts and local retailers

• Enjoy food from various leading NYC Kosher restaurants and food 

Visit the City Winery website for more information about this event.

This week, Aaron Heman had the opportunity to attend the ultimate kiddush. He had the opportunity to attend the 2012 Kosher Food and Wine Experience at Chelsea Piers. Hundreds of Jews from around the Tri-State area came to taste wines from all over the world and have amazing kosher food.

If you would like to order kosher wine, please visit Skyview Wine, at http://SkyViewWine.com or

This week, Aaron Heman had the opportunity to attend the Advancing Jewish Professionals New York City  where Alisha Goodman, Executive Director of The Jewish Lens and AJP founder facilitated an engaging session examining what makes for a good elevator speech and how we can write our own, whether for our organization, our job, or ourselves.

Advancing Jewish Professionals of NYC is a professional development and networking association for emerging nonprofit Jewish communal professionals.  Our events provide our constituents with the opportunity to make meaningful connections with colleagues throughout the field and learn from distinguished speakers on topics key to their professional development.

This week, Aaron Heman had the opportunity to attend the Masa Israel Journey and 3GNY: WEDU Showcase at the Hummus Place in NYC. 3g’s mission is to: 

1. EDUCATION- To act, as the last living link to survivors, on the mandate handed down to us to perpetuate the memory of the Holocaust, telling the story of our families, survivors and victims.

2. ACTION -To use our personal connection to the Holocaust to be active in fighting intolerance, no matter who or where the victims.

3. REFLECTION -To provide a forum for grandchildren of Holocaust survivors to meet, connect and express ideas with one another. 

WEDU” (We Educate) — is an education initiative that empowers grandchildren of survivors to bring our family stories and lessons of the Holocaust to school classrooms. Developed under the guidance of Facing History and Ourselves, along with support from Yad Vashem, WEDU prepares participants to learn and teach their family stories..

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In this episode, Aaron “The Schmoz” Herman had the opportunity to speak with Dr. David Ellenson and Dr. Daniel Gordis about their new book Pledges of Jewish Alleglance:Conversion,Law and Policy-Making In Nineteenth-and Twentieth-Century Orthodox Responsa. Dr. David Ellenson and Dr. Daniel Gordis probe the challenges to Jewish self-definition in the modern period by examining a wide array of legal opinions on conversion and intermarriage, written by nineteenth- and twentieth-century Orthodox rabbis in Europe, the United States, and Israel, and discover how these rabbinic decisions are, in fact, attempts to define policy for Judaism in the modern period.

Dr. David Ellenson is President of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion — the 8th President in its 125 year-long history. He holds the Gus Waterman Herrman Presidential Chair and is the I.H. and Anna Grancell Professor of Jewish Religious Thought at HUC-JIR in Los Angeles. A member of HUC-JIR’s faculty since 1979, he has served as Lecturer, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor of Jewish Religious Thought. From 1981-1997, he also held the post of Director of the Jerome H. Louchheim School of Judaic Studies.

Dr. Daniel Gordis is President of the Shalem Foundation, and Senior Fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem. He is a regular columnist for the Jerusalem Post, and a frequent contributor to the New York Times, in print and on-line. The author of numerous books on Jewish thought and currents in Israel, and a recent winner of the National Jewish Book Award, Dr. Gordis was the founding dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the University of Judaism, the first rabbinical college on the West Coast of the United States. Dr. Gordis joined Shalem in 2007 to help found Israel’s first liberal arts college, after spending nine years as vice president of the Mandel Foundation in Israel and director of its Leadership Institute.

In this episode, Aaron “The Schmoz” Herman sat down with the Producers of Follow Me The Jonathan Netanyahu Story at it’s premier a the New York Jewish Film Festival.

JULY 4, 1976 ENTEBBE, UGANDA…. Led by Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Netanyahu, crack Israeli commandos race from their airplanes covered by the midnight darkness.

Methodically, they approach a non-descript airline terminal, burst inside, killing the stunned terrorists. Helpless and shocked, 103 hostages lift their heads and gratefully weep at the mesmerizing sight of their saviors.

As the alarms begin to sound, the Israeli soldiers strike with surgical precision and speed — a lightning bolt of controlled, finely rehearsed fury.

It is all over in a few minutes.

Terrorists lay dead.

The hostages rush out to board the transport planes waiting to evacuate the hostages to safety.

During the mission, a lone shot from a control tower burst in the night — and a sharp cry for help is heard.

That cry would become the cry of an entire nation, mourning the loss of its prodigal son…

Thirty-year-old Jonathan Netanyahu has been shot dead.

After leading the dramatic raid to free the hostages at Entebbe, Jonathan Netanyahu becomes the “impossible mission’s” most tragic casualty.

With his death, Jonathan became an international hero.

The story of Jonathan Netanyahu is an intimate journey into a young hero’s mind. The narration for this compelling journey will be drawn from Jonathan Netanyahu’s own letters and words, which unveil the complex character of this thoroughly modern young hero. Jonathan’s words are deeply moving through his deep-rooted introspection, self-understanding, and heartfelt passions.

Jonathan Netanyahu’s American/Israeli adolescent life took a dramatic turn when he entered the Israeli military at the age of eighteen. His thoughts and worry turned from relationships and girls to guns and nationalism. Through his bravery and selflessness on the battlefield, he was recognized as a national hero. However, Jonathan questioned the core value of war. Obsessed with his duty to his young country, he put aside his personal life and feelings, resulting in a failed marriage. Years later, Jonathan would find love again and vow to change his life’s course… but it was not meant to be, as his life was suddenly cut down on the airstrip in Entebbe, Uganda.

What makes Jonathan’s story both universal and unique are his poetry, prose and letters which allow us to see beyond this tough soldier’s exterior, into a deep inner personality where heroism, duty, love, turmoil and doubt raged. Jonathan’s writings describe with striking clarity the exhilaration and fear he faced during the critical crossroads of his short but fascinating life. But the most important aspect of Jonathan’s letters is the recognition of his human frailty. Jonathan’s sensitivity to his shortcomings and flaws led to his seemingly prophetic knowledge that these very flaws would lead to a tragic, untimely death. Nevertheless, Jonathan Netanyahu dared to make a difference, and is a true modern day hero.

The film will consist of two story arcs that will tragically and heroically connect. The first is the dramatic Entebbe hijack and rescue — 8 days when a nation held its breath and executed a military miracle that redefined the Jewish Nation’s call – “Never Again!” The second is the remarkable life story of Jonathan Netanyahu, a young soldier who struggled to find the balance between the people and the Nation he loved. This film is about Jonathan’s life, and what led these two dramatic story arcs to intersect on that fateful day.

In this episode, Aaron “The Schmoz” Herman talks to the people involved in the Birthright Israel Alumni Bar and Bat Mitzvah Celebration program.

Birthright Israel Alumuni community gives individuals the opportunity to celebrate their own Bar or Bat Mitzvah with family and friends in just 8 weeks.

This program was created in response to the great number of Birthright Israel alumni who shared with us that they had never had a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, or felt they didn’t fully appreciate its significance.

Throughout the course of 8 weeks, participants will be exposed to various aspects of Judaism including Jewish history, holidays, and how to read Hebrew. Everyone learns his or her personal Torah portions while gaining the knowledge, skills and experience that a Bar or Bat Mitzvah is really about!

In this episode, Aaron “The Schmoz” Herman talks to a number of people involved in the Jewish New Teachers Project.

The Jewish New Teacher Project (JNTP) is dedicated to improving student learning by accelerating the effectiveness of beginning teachers in Jewish day schools and yeshivot. JNTP’s teacher induction model focuses on improving the classroom practices of beginning teachers through high quality, intensive mentoring, resulting in reflective practitioners who are responsive to the needs of all students.

The Jewish New Teacher Project (JNTP) is part of the New Teacher Center in Santa Cruz, CA, which, since 1998, has been renowned for its comprehensive, research-based instructional mentoring and professional development programs. JNTP mentors guide beginning teachers in understanding standards of professional teaching and utilizing a system of formative assessment. JNTP is generously funded by the Avi Chai Foundation, the Jim Joseph Foundation and the Alan B. Slifka Foundation.