Volume 49 Number 84
Produced: Tue Aug 30 6:08:10 EDT 2005
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
J Update: Biblical Clipart and Language Match Game
[Jacob Richman]
Post-dated checks
[Asher Grossman]
Post-dated cheques
[Shayna Kravetz]
Seat Belts (3)
[Ari Y. Weintraub, M.D., Joshua Meisner, Ari Trachtenberg]
Seat Belts and Shidduchim
[Chaim Shapiro]
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From: Jacob Richman <jrichman@...>
Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2005 00:39:54 +0200
Subject: J Update: Biblical Clipart and Language Match Game
Hi Everyone!
The J Site - Jewish Education and Entertainment
http://www.J.co.il
has been enlarged and updated.
1. The Jewish Clipart Database - New topics, as well as 49 new
graphics, have been added.
The new topics include:
Biblical - Breishit [Genesis]
Biblical - Noach [Noah]
Biblical - Tribes of Israel [with Hebrew text]
Biblical - Tribes of Israel [with English text]
Several new graphics have been added to the Bar/Bat Mitzvah section.
If a graphic is needed for your synagogue, Hillel or JCC; or your child
needs a picture for their class project, you can find them in the Jewish
Clipart Database.
The database contains 211 free graphics. A clipart graphic can be
copied, saved and printed in three different sizes.
2. The Language Match Game - 8 new topics have been added to this flash
game, which can be learned/played in Hebrew or English.
The newly added topics are: Colors, Clothing, Food, Games, House, Human
Body, Nature and Tools.
Learning new words can be a fun experience, in Hebrew or English.
Please forward this message to relatives and/or friends who may be
interested in these new educational resources.
I welcome your feedback.
Have a good day,
Jacob
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From: Asher Grossman <asherg@...>
Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2005 01:57:28 -0400
Subject: Post-dated checks
In 49/78 Yehonatan Chipman wrote:
>On the other hand, in Israel postdated checks are completely accepted
>and in certain situations even required.
My father, who is a banker in Israel, has told me on several occasions
that post-dated checks are only a complimentary service, not bound by
law. While most banks will bounce a check if its due-date has not
arrived yet, they do it only as part of a service to their clients. If a
bank were to accept and pay out on that check - the issuer would not be
able to complain or sue.
>parents at many religious high-schools, which have substantial
>tuition -- possibly itself illegal, but unavoidable
I don't see why you suspect this tuition to be illegal. Most religious
schools in Israel provide a longer school-day, more subjects, better
education - both secular and especially religious, yet receive far less
funding from the Ministry of Education - who would rather see them shut
down. Free school is mandated by law for its own system and curriculum.
You wouldn't suspect religious schools in the US of illegally charging
tuition, would you?
Asher Grossman
<asherg@...>
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From: Shayna Kravetz <skravetz@...>
Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2005 10:44:48 -0500
Subject: Re: Post-dated cheques
Carl Singer writes:
>To say that post-dated checks are "illegal" is a bit strong -- it may be
>"unwise" to use them with someone you don't trust -- as in most cases it
>seems the date can be ignored by whomever you give the checks to and
>they may be cashed whenever the holder deposits them.
This whole thread has struck me as so surprising; in Canada, a
post-dated cheque cannot be cashed before its date and, in fact, your
bank teller will check the date as a matter of course and refuse the
cheque if you are too early. (It's not an official bounced cheque with
service charges,certification requirement, etc. They'll just hand it
back to you and tell you to bring it back on the correct date.) Tellers
are trained to look at four things on the face of a cheque: date, payee,
signature, and that the written and numeric amounts match.
If you deposit a post-dated cheque via an automated teller and the
machine stamp is prior to the date of the cheque, I believe (but am not
quite certain) that the bank is required to bounce it. For favoured
customers, you can lodge a post-dated cheque with your branch in advance
so that it can be automatically deposited on the relevant date, but this
is a special service and you can't get the cash until the date shown on
the cheque's face.
Kol tuv from
Shayna in Toronto (long ago for one summer a bank employee)
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From: Ari Y. Weintraub, M.D. <aweintra@...>
Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2005 14:43:37 -0400
Subject: RE: Seat Belts
From: Ben Katz <bkatz@...>
> One should not drive a car if the other front-seated passenger is not
> belted in. (The last time I checked with the AAA, passengers in the
> back seat, if the door is locked, are at no greater risk in accidents
> whether belted or not, so I am not AS makpid on the back seat.) The
> cars in our house won't move if the front-seated passnger is not
> belted in - I don't care how old, obese or chashuv the person is. I
> will often do the seat belt for them myself if they cannot do it
> themselves.
WADR to the esteemed Dr. Katz, I would like to respond to his final
comment regarding rear seat passengers. The issue of car safety is near
and dear to my heart, and I recently published an article in our
community newsletter and a letter in the last school mailing on the
importance of carseat safety. I am enclosing excerpts of the letter
below, but I specifically would like to point out that even rear seat
passengers have been shown to be safer when restrained properly. My
review of the literature has focused on infants and children, so I
cannot specifically quote adult data, but I believe that we can
extrapolate from the older teenagers (whose size and body mass are equal
to, if not greater than, those of many adults) to adults.
Remember that "shomair p'saim Hashem" and "kvar doshu bo rabim" do not
apply "b'makom d'shchichi hezaika". I have seen the results of improper
restraints too often, but I (B"H) have also seen many lives that were
saved by seat belts.
Ari Y. Weintraub, M.D.
Resident, Department of Anesthesiology & Critical Care
University of Pennsylvania Health System, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
(previously Chief Resident in Pediatrics & Attending Physician in Pediatric
Emergency Room & ICU, Children's Hospital at Sinai, Baltimore, Maryland)
In 2003, 1,794 children under age 16 were killed and
approximately 241,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes in the
United States. In Pennsylvania alone, approximately 9,000 children under
age 5 are involved in crashes each year. Many of the injured children
were seated in the front seat, and most were unrestrained. Rear-seating
and appropriate restraints could have prevented most of these tragedies.
The start of the 2005-2006 school year is right around the
corner, bringing with it the resumption of carpools to and from schools,
playgroups, and babysitters. As a pediatrician, and as your friend and
neighbor, I feel compelled to share with you the importance of properly
restraining our children every time they travel in a car.
In addition to the official recommendations of professional societies
(such as the American Academy of Pediatrics) and government agencies
(including the National Traffic Safety Board - NTSB and National Highway
Traffic and Safety Association - NHTSA), Pennsylvania state law mandates
appropriate child restraints. According to the Pennsylvania Driver's
Manual, Pennsylvania law requires that:
Children less than 4 years of age be in a child passenger restraint
system while seated anywhere in the vehicle
Children age 4 through and including age 7 be in an appropriately
fitting child booster seat while seated anywhere in the vehicle
Children ages 8 through 18 use a seatbelt while riding anywhere in
the vehicle
At the current time, there is no law in Pennsylvania requiring children
to ride in the back seat, only a recommendation in the Driver's Manual
that "children age 12 and under ride properly restrained in the back
seat." However, a recently published study by the Partners in Child
Passenger Safety at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia demonstrated
considerable benefits with rear-seating for children under age 13. Most
people think that this only applies to vehicles equipped with
passenger-side airbags, but there is a significantly increased risk of
injury even in vehicles without these airbags. The main points of the
article were that children under age 13 are safest in age- and
size-appropriate restraints in the rear seat, and that, under no
circumstance, should any child (or adult) ride unrestrained anywhere in
the vehicle, especially in the front seat.
Everyone realizes that infants and toddlers need to be in carseats.
Unfortunately, many people do not realize that their 3 to 7 year olds
also need to be in either carseats or booster seats. This age group is
often referred to as the "forgotten generation" and is at high risk of
serious injury for this reason. It is ironic that this is the age where
most children are carpooling to preschool or playgroups and not riding
the school bus.
It is also important to realize that appropriate restraint includes
having properly installed car seats. According to the Pennsylvania State
Police, only about one-third of car seats are properly installed. Common
mistakes are that the seat is not locked tightly enough into position
and that the harness holding the child is too loose or too
tight. Another common error is that the seat is either too reclined or
not reclined enough. The State Police will check and/or install car
seats in your vehicle(s) at no charge.
Aside from legal mandates and official recommendations, we are all bound
by the obligation of "v'nishmartem m'od l'nafshoseichem" - the Torah
obligation to guard our lives, which includes injury prevention. Given
this responsibility, it is incumbent upon members of our Torah-observant
community to set an example of safe behavior and not, chas v'shalom, to
recklessly disregard child safety. What do our neighbors think when they
see cars and minivans stuffed with unrestrained frum children? This is
not just a violation of the Torah-mandated requirement to protect
ourselves from injury, but is a tremendous chillul Hashem as well.
I realize that properly restraining our children when they travel can be
an inconvenience and nuisance at times, but it is of the utmost
importance. We have had children injured in collisions in our own
community, and these injuries would likely have been prevented if the
children had been properly restrained. These tragedies do befall "us",
and we must do everything in our power to prevent them. How can we risk
our children's safety for our convenience? The excuses of "it's only a
few blocks" (most collisions happen close to home); "just this once" (it
only takes one collision to cause serious injury or death); "I'll drive
slowly" (it doesn't matter how fast you're driving when someone runs a
red light or stop sign, a large problem in our neighborhood); or "we
didn't wear seatbelts when we were kids" (there are many more cars on
the road today than there were in years past) have no validity. If
everyone would only weigh for a moment the tremendous tragedy of a
serious or fatal accident against the minor inconvenience of making sure
that every child is properly buckled in an appropriate carseat or
booster, I doubt that anyone would allow their child to ride improperly
restrained.
Raising children is a tremendous challenge, and often entails
great sacrifice and inconvenience. Nevertheless, our children are our
most precious resource, and we must keep their physical and spiritual
safety our highest priority. Using carseats and booster seats
consistently is a necessary nuisance, but a small price to pay to ensure
our children's future.
Wishing you a safe and successful school year,
Ari Y. Weintraub, M.D.
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From: Joshua Meisner <jmeisner@...>
Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2005 14:54:02 -0400
Subject: Re: Seat Belts
What was AAA's source for this? According to a study published in
February of this year in Academic Emergency Medicine by Mayrose, et.al.
(12, 2, 130-134) , the odds of fatality for a belted driver in a head-on
crash was shown to be 2.28 times greater with an unbelted rear-seat
passenger than with a restrained passenger, due to a "backseat bullet"
phenomenon. Additionally, an unbelted rear-seat passenger was also
shown to have a risk of death 2.71 times greater in these accidents when
compared to restrained rear-seat passengers.
The abstract of this paper (which was all I was able to access) can be
found by searching on Google Scholar with the terms "backseat bullet"
- Josh
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From: Ari Trachtenberg <trachten@...>
Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2005 17:25:57 -0400
Subject: Re: Seat Belts
> whether belted or not, so I am not AS makpid on the back seat.) The
>cars in our house won't move if the front-seated passnger is not belted
>in - I don't care how old, obese or chashuv the person is. I will
>often do the seat belt for them myself if they cannot do it themselves.
New cars have the nice feature of beeping incessantly if a front-seat
passenger isn't buckled. However, this issue is more difficult than it
seems...there are some real halachic issues when your father or
grandmother refuse to buckle the seat and have no alternate forms of
transportation.
Best,
-Ari
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From: <Dagoobster@...> (Chaim Shapiro)
Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2005 09:50:14 EDT
Subject: Seat Belts and Shidduchim
I have heard that the practice among some prohibits young women from
wearing the shoulder strap portion of the seat belt, even in the front
seat, during shidduch dates. Can anyone verify?
Chaim Shapiro
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End of Volume 49 Issue 84
