text:
Pre-Marriage
Book the Friesens
Sign up for our newsletter or other email notifications
Paul and Virginia
If Home Is Where the Heart Is . . .
It's Sept. 12 and we're somewhere between Brussels and Newark, NJ. As the 11th anniversary of 9/11 drew to a close, we boarded our flight from Entebbe, Uganda, closing out three incredible weeks of ministry and holiday in this central African country.
A million thoughts are swirling through my head as we make this long journey back to the States, where a good portion of our hearts reside. But surely "home" is now also in Mbale, Uganda, where we have left part of our hearts.
Our last week in that country has been more vacation than work, so we travel home considerably more rested and relaxed than we arrived 3 weeks ago. Though I did visit the hospital daily to hang out with precious mamas and babies, much of the week was spent relaxing, swimming, napping, reading, and hanging with Derek and Julie. Sweet, sweet times with them, making it harder and easier to leave them. Harder because we love being with them so much; easier because they are delighting in marriage and are fulfilled in their ministry work. They are "better together" and that is so encouraging to see firsthand.
"Papa Paul" plays with Hadasseh, a little 3-year-old Ugandan orphan adopted
by Lexi, a young woman from Florida.
Mostly relaxing: Derek manages to enjoy the pool and take a business call. :)
One of the highlights of this week was visiting "Overcomers Rehabilitation Center," a less-than-one-year-old private school for children with spina bifida. One of the specialties of the CURE Neurological Hospital in Mbale is treating children who are born with this condition, which is considered a congenital defect of children born in poverty. Though the opening in the spinal column can be surgically repaired at CURE, the children are typically paralyzed from the opening down, resulting in lifelong incontinence. As a result, these usually bright children are refused admission to school, as the schools are not able/willing/equipped to deal with incontinent children.
The Spiritual Center Director of CURE, Miriam Ongom, received a vision from God regarding starting a private school for these children, who have survived the perceived "curse" of spina bifida as infants, only to be cast away by the time they are school-aged. Without Miriam's school, the six students currently enrolled would languish in their huts, with nothing but a dismal future unfolding before them.
We first met her school children earlier in the week when they came to the hospital for a physical therapy session with Dr. Julie (Friesen Johnson!) and her colleague, Lucy (CURE's full-time physiotherapist.) We fell in love with this little uniformed cohort of overcomers. They played ball. They recited their facts. They laughed. They did their exercises. And they sang. "Somebody touched me . . . it must've been the hand of the Lord." Lustily and with conviction. If you didn't know that the little silk purses around their necks held their catheters, or if you didn't notice the braces on their legs or the crutches under their arms, you would've thought they were any typical group of 4-6 year olds.
These children have come from all over Uganda to attend Sister Miriam's special boarding school. Sister Miriam, who lives in Namatala, one of the largest slums in Mbale, has converted her rented home into a boarding school. Not because it's a lucrative private school. These children can't pay. Not because she has so much excess money and time. She works full-time to support her family of six sons. Not because she has state aid, a huge board, and a list of benefactors. At this point, she's doing this with the aid of two teachers and a "dorm" mom.
Just because God told her to do this. Because these children, though considered "the least of these" by a society that has no purpose for their lives, are loved by Him, and Sister Miriam knows that He has a purpose for each of their lives.
We visited the "school" and had a deeply moving "sad-glad" experience. I'll admit that it was initially hard to overlook the obvious symbols of poverty: the dirt, the small room holding 3 bunkbeds for sleeping, the tiny school room, the smell of beans alone boiling for dinner, the "squatty potty", etc. But all it took to see through a totally different lens was the children, who were happily working at their desks, learning to write and read, being taught by a beautiful Ugandan school teacher (who is willing to serve at ORC for much less than she'd receive in any other Ugandan school). They lit right up when they saw that the "M'zee" had come with his wife ("M'zee" refers to an older man, who is considered wise and worthy of respect). "M'zee Paul" had taught them "My God is so BIG" when they had come to the hospital on Tuesday, so they were thrilled when he led them in a chorus of this simple, profound song. Precious moments.
The children from Overcomers Rehabilitation Center arrive at the hospital for physical therapy with Dr. Julie and Ms. Lucy.
Enoch, Anthony, Adijah, and Emma are in the front row, with Ruth standing behind.
All of these children had surgery at CURE in years past.
Dr. Julie tosses the ball, much to the delight of the children.
Sister Miriam stands in the "dorm room" of her little school.
The happy children with their teacher have just finished singing, "My God is so BIG!"
Miriam's school launched in March and they are beginning their 3rd term now. She fully believes that this is just the beginning of a large boarding school which will meet the needs of many otherwise forgotten children. Would you pray with us for her efforts - and ask the Lord if He is calling you to be part of the fulfillment of her vision?
Another highlight of the week was spending good chunks of time with my new friend, Janet, and her son Emma. I referred to them last week in the blog: Emma was born with hydrocephalus and was treated at CURE during its inaugural year in Mbale (2001). He has had many complications and as a result, is non-ambulatory and confined to a wheelchair. He was back at the hospital for the past couple of weeks for a shunt revision due to an infection. His mother was widowed 4 years ago, about the time she had her second child, so she lives with her mom (who is disabled) as a single mom of two.
Emma, Janet, Julie, and another little patient share
a few moments in the ICU ward after Emma's surgery.
Janet is one of the most beautiful, courageous women I have met. I sat with her for about 30 minutes during Emma's surgery, sharing life stories and praying, and was so impressed with her heart for the Lord and her awareness of His presence. "God is good ALL the time" she began, and I finished, "And ALL the time, God is good." She loves her Emma, even though his needs are so great and her culture rejects him. She inspired me greatly.
The hospital is expanding as we speak. Construction is underway to add a ten-bed private ward, a new Physiotherapy Lab, and a third "theater" (operating room.) Completion is expected in November. It's very, very impressive to be on the hospital grounds - a beautifully landscaped "sanctuary," gated from the surrounding impoverished village, but providing life and health, spiritual and physical, to those living in such villages. It's a remarkable work.
Interacting with the hospital staff was another highlight of our time in Mbale. Led capably by our son-in-law Derek Johnson, the staff of over 100 are truly delightful. Possessing the gracious spirit of Ugandans, they are appreciative, warm, respectful, and servant-hearted. They so genuinely appreciated our teaching on relationships, and many expressed how much it had impacted their lives. Many said it had really changed the way they looked at marriage and family. We loved every minute of interaction and look forward to being with them again.
"M'zee Paul" and "M'zee Emma" share a bond as the two "M'zees" of the hospital.
Emma has been married for 30 years and has raised his three children for Christ.
He's a remarkable man of God.
Sister Harriet, Sister Esther, and Sister Miriam are three key players at the hospital. Wonderful women of God, dedicated to serving Him and these precious Mamas and babies.
We also enjoyed connecting with the missionary community in Mbale and others who are friends with Derek and Julie. Bob and Martha Wright (and their five children!), are missionaries in Karamoja, a remote and rough region in the northeast corner of Uganda. They were in Mbale for much of the time we were, and we had several great times with them. We had dinner one night with Yusef and Nada Eads, and four of their five children and enjoyed a Palestinian feast prepared by Nada. They fled Palestine over 20 years ago and have made their home in Mbale since. They're very involved in the Christian community in Mbale. Another night we had dinner with JP and Jill Robinson and their two kids. The Robinsons were married 15 or so years ago by our dear friend, Jay Abramson (of Valley Community Baptist Church of Avon, CT), and began their missionary career in Mbale in April. We attended their ecumenical Bible Study one Sunday night and got to meet many others there. It gave us good insight into Julie and Derek's world outside of the hospital.
Dinner with the Wright family from Karamoja. We really enjoyed
these guys and admire the work they're doing in a very tough setting.
No safaris or sightseeing tours on this trip, but on Saturday, Derek did drive us up Wanale, a mountain just behind their town. It was a beautiful drive through the waterfall strewn landscape. The hillsides were terraced with small farms and we were enthusiastically greeted by small children from the small villages dotted along the road. We were captivated by all the sights and sounds. Derek regaled us with tales of riding his bike up their arduous dirt road, which planted a vision in my mind for our next trip. :) Great day.
On the Wanale Road, the friendly children paid a visit when we stopped to photograph the waterfall.
Just about the time that we were tuning out the incessant sounds of roosters crowing through the night, and dogs barking their heads off, and birds contributing their special songs to the symphony of the night; and just about the time the sometimes noxious odors of people and poverty were becoming somewhat normal; and just about the time walking into the ward at the hospital didn't cause me to automatically burst into tears; and just about the time it was second nature to not swallow any tap water . . . it was time to pack and go.
But we weren't quite done. We were privileged to have two more ministry opportunities before we boarded our flight home. We drove to Kampala on Monday, the 10th, and spoke that night at the Family of Destiny Church in NTinde. Pastored by a dear friend of Pastor Wilberforce, we were invited to speak on marriage to their young marrieds, so we did. We were in cross-town Kampala traffic to get there for longer than we spoke, but it was a wonderful night. We've been invited back. Pastor Thomas said, "You have only served up an appetizer tonight. We want you to come back and serve a full meal!"
The following morning, very early, we were invited to speak to the Christians in Parliament. We had the privilege of addressing this group 3.5 years ago when were were here, and considered it a great honor to have another opportunity. We mainly encouraged this group of faithful men and women in positions of influence to use their appointments to strengthen marriages and families in Uganda, using scriptural truth as their guide. They've also invited us back.
Pastor Wilberforce, MP Charles Angine, and Patrick
helped make it possible for us to speak to Parliament.
We've said yes to all these invitations. What makes it a bit easier to leave part of our hearts in Uganda is that God has made a way for us to return in March. :) We are most grateful.
So as we head home, we carry with us much less luggage, and much fuller hearts. We'll be processing these weeks for months to come, undoubtedly, but we know we've been changed by these experiences. We have greater confidence than ever in God's design for the family, and a deeper awareness that He will bring about His purposes in spite of cultural distortions.
And we know that a heart can be divided . . . in a way that doesn't decrease it, but expands it. Only God can make that happen.
Tagged: CURE, Derek, Julie, Uganda
Newer PostIt's Time to Change
Older PostWorlds Apart
H.I.M. Newsletters
Home Improvement Ministries, Inc., 213 Burlington Road, #101-B, Bedford, MA, 01730, United States781-275-6473info@himweb.org
©2017 Home Improvement Ministries


(Part of the A Healthy Church: Through Spirit Empowered Discipleship series).
Preached by Pastor John Kilough on February 26, 2017 (Sunday Morning).
Preached by Pastor John Kilough on February 12, 2017 (Sunday Morning).
Preached by Pastor John Kilough on February 5, 2017 (Sunday Morning).
Preached by Pastor John Kilough on January 15, 2017 (Sunday Morning).
Preached by Pastor John Kilough on January 8, 2017 (Sunday Morning).


Uncle Frank - Anniversary Edition '17 - Outlet Seconds – CRAFTD.
These glasses are usable, and safe, they are only seconds.
3 years of CRAFTD. in this glass was launched.
This year's Anniversary Frank draws inspiration from the flying bull - Michael Jordan. Such a legendary basketball player - he & his buddies (Pippen & Rodman) were unstoppable!
The print design is a hats-off to the legend of the 90's. Imagine yourself flying through the air whilst sipping on your full-flavoured brew.


text:
The Palermo metropolitan area is the urban agglomeration centred on the city of Palermo in the island of Sicily, Italy. It is defined statistically and does not correspond to a single area of local government. Administratively it comprises the comune (municipality) of Palermo plus 26 further communes, all of which fall within the Metropolitan City of Palermo.

The metropolitan area has a total population of 1.069.754 and an area of 1.391,4 km², giving a density of 750,63 people per square kilometre. It is one of the most populous metropolitan areas in Italy and the first in Sicily. 60% of the population lives within the city of Palermo.

Composition
The Palermo metropolitan area includes the city of Palermo and 26 municipalities, the most important of these by population are Bagheria, Monreale, Termini Imerese, Carini and Partinico.

References

Metropolitan areas of Italy
Palermo

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Our Matt Mosaic tiles are perfect for those who crave a more reserved, subtle finish for their room. A matte finish offers that extra splash of sophistication to your tiles.
Why choose Matte Mosaic tiles?
Matte finishes are added to our finest selection of tiles, Slate and Porcelain. Matte tiles are also renown for being slip resistant, which in hindsight makes them ideal for bathrooms. They require little maintenance and once fitted are guaranteed to last, all in all, if you're looking for a tile with longevity then this is the one for you.


text:
China urged to clarify rare earth mineral policy
Michael Bristow Oct 28, 2010
https://www.marketplace.org/2010/10/28/china-urged-clarify-rare-earth-mineral-policy/
TEXT OF INTERVIEW
STEVE CHIOTAKIS: Now the global perspective, what's happening in business and economics around the world and how it affects the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged China to clarify its policy on rare earth metals. Those are the resources needed to make a lot of high tech gadgets. China produces the vast majority of the world's supply rare earths. Clinton's remarks come after reports China curbed has exports to the United States, Europe and Japan.
The BBC's Michael Bristow is with us this morning from Beijing. Hi Michael.
MICHAEL BRISTOW: Hi, good morning.
CHIOTAKIS: What is China's reaction to this?
BRISTOW: Well China's come out and basically denied that it's going to use rare earth metals as a bargaining tool. A spokesman for the Ministry of Industry said a few hours ago that basically they want to cooperate with other countries and export these rare earth metals so everybody can benefit from them. It must be said though this is a little bit of a mixed message because yesterday a foreign ministry spokesman said, "Well we've been trying to sovereign rights to control the flow of these rare earth metals outside the country."
CHIOTAKIS: Why are these metals so important? Why are we talking about this?
BRISTOW: Well they're used in a range of industries, both civilian industries and for military uses as well. And that's why people like the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is concerned. Because without these metals, many industries won't be able to function, won't be able to produce things. But it must be said that America and many of these countries do produce, or have produced these rare earths themselves. They just stopped producing them some time ago. So perhaps if China continues to put a block on exports or there's questions marks over it, they ought to go back to mining them themselves or look to alternative ways to make these products.
CHIOTAKIS: The BBC's Michael Bristow in Beijing. Michael thanks.
BRISTOW: Thank you very much.
Trump's Greenland interest throws mining into focus
Why the US buys all its rare earth metals from China
U.S. businesses worried over Chinese policy initiative
Biden's China options
Would China weaponize its U.S. debt as a trade war tactic?
China's quiet hunt to hire top U.S. researchers

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
China Data
Home / Business / Motoring
NEV charging demand to increase
By Liu Zhihua and Liu Yukun | China Daily | Updated: 2019-09-17 13:16
An employee charges electric-powered coaches at a transportation hub in Baodi district of Tianjin. [Photo/Xinhua]
Policy support, confidence in industry driving interest in facility construction and management
Before founding major Chinese new energy vehicle maker Nio Inc in 2014, Li Bin, founder and CEO of the company, organized a survey online in which the majority of respondents said short range and lack of charging facilities were the top barriers against an electric car purchase decision.
Five years later, while ranges of mainstream NEVs have been largely improved, difficulty recharging NEVs remains a concern for drivers with no private charging piles at their residence.
As of the end of July, China had 1.05 million charging piles, a rise of 71.9 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to the China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance.
Approximately 447,000 of the charging piles are in public places, growing by 14,000 per month on average from August 2018, with a year-on-year growth of 62.5 percent at the end of July.
Yet that is far from meeting the goals on charging infrastructure set by the Chinese government.
In 2015, a government development guideline for charging infrastructure construction said China should build more than 4.8 million new charging piles by 2020.
The guideline was jointly issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, the National Energy Administration, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.
Liu Yongdong, director of the center of standardization under the China Electricity Council, said the severe imbalance between supply and demand has prompted widespread efforts from both the government and business community to strengthen charging facility construction and operation.
"Developing new energy vehicles is a national agenda, and the industry is promising," he said.
"As the total number of NEVs in China is set to grow, demand for charging will continue to explode, and it is natural that more enterprises are crowding into the sector, trying to take a share in a promising business."
Policy support also boosts charging infrastructure development, as subsidies in the NEV industry have shifted from sales to charging infrastructure development with detail-oriented rationality, according to Qiu Kaijun, an industry observer and founder of Evobserver, an influential social media platform in the NEV industry.
A recent report by China EV100, an industry think tank, and the Natural Resources Defense Council, has classified current local subsidies into four types.
In cities including Beijing, Chengdu in Sichuan province, and Xiamen in Fujian province, subsidies will be equal to a proportion of investment in charging infrastructure.
A flat rate subsidy has been introduced in cities like Jincheng, Shanxi province, where the local government offers 1 million yuan ($140,300) for building bus charging stations, 600,000 yuan for setting up infrastructure with direct current for quick charging, and 3,000 yuan for constructing charging infrastructure with alternating current.
In addition, there are also cities like Shenzhen where local governments offer subsidies to NEV charging infrastructure builders based on the equipment's efficiency. While cities like Shanghai offer subsidies on NEV charging infrastructure's operations.
Thanks to the policy boost and mounting confidence in the future of the NEV industry, even companies primarily operating outside the NEV industry are attaching greater importance to charging facility construction and operation.
Real estate giant Evergrande Group teamed up with State Grid Corp of China to launch a smart energy services company in Shenzhen in July, expanding its investment to charging services.
With an agreement signed, the joint venture will install charging piles in residential communities not only developed or operated by Evergrande Group, but also three of its major competitors, Country Garden, China Vanke Co Ltd, and Sunac China Holdings Ltd.
That amounts to 5,468 communities, covering an estimated 31 million residents, according to Xinhua News Agency.
In August, British oil major BP and China's car-hailing platform Didi Chuxing announced they have agreed to form a new joint venture to develop a network of NEV charging hubs across the country for both Didi drivers and the public.
As for NEV makers, in March, Xpeng Motors officially put 30 supercharging stations into operation in five cities across China - Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Guangdong province, and Wuhan in Hubei province.
Nio has launched a series of services to enhance charging experiences of Nio NEV owners, including the construction of so-called supercharging stations, and opening up of its widely praised app-based on-call charging service to NEV owners of other brands.
The high-power charging stations are for exclusive use by Nio NEV owners, in places where charging demand is high, but no third-party charging piles are available, the company said.
The latest news is that the company had incorporated the app on-call charging service into Baidu Inc's map services in August.
Despite fierce competition and a lack of profitable business models, the future is what these companies have their eye on, according to Liu.
Charging is a frequent demand from NEV drivers, and thus it is easy for charging service providers to get solid user loyalty. On the basis of user loyalty, the service givers could easily expand their business with more value-added services, such as car maintenance, battery status surveillance, and insurance, he explained.
A charging station could also be a facility that helps attract consumers to hotels, shopping malls, and other entertainment service providers, or become a touch point for the internet-plus economy, he said.
Qiu observed that investments flooding into charging infrastructure construction and operation are much more rational than those seen a few years ago, as investors pay close attention to locations and operation efficiency enhancement, eyeing future operational returns rather than government subsidies.
However, low utility rates and difficulty making a profit remain the top concerns hampering the healthy development of charging infrastructure, experts said.
According to the report by China EV100 and the Natural Resources Defense Council, the utilization rate of EV charging infrastructure was lower than 10 percent on average in 2018 in China.
Qiu observed operators of public charging piles in public places have to innovate business models with more value-added services to increase their profitability, if their main consumers are private NEV drivers.
It has been proved profitable for operators to provide charging services to commercial NEVs, which have larger-scale and more predictable service demand than private NEVs, he said.
Liu said charging infrastructure construction and operation is a heavy-asset business that needs not only a large amount of investment, but also an intricate layout of charging stations based on data analysis.
Both of the experts said market forces should play a bigger role to balance the demand and supply of charging services through better allocation of resources.
A recent report by the Guangdong Testing Institute of Product Quality Supervision also revealed safety concerns, as about 70 percent of charging piles from a total of nine local producers failed to pass its quality check.
Major problems were higher-than-expected output voltage and loose electric locks for charging cables.
Han Xiaoping, chief researcher at energy analysis website China5e, said: "Seeing the market potential of charging infrastructure, there are many small-and medium-sized businesses rushing to the industry but they lack sufficient technology and financial support.
"The situation will be gradually improved with a surging number of safety check products."
China's new energy carmakers register sluggish performance in H1
China's installed capacity of hydrogen fuel cells soars sixfold in first seven months
Beijing to have 20,000 electric taxis in 2020
BYD NEV sales up 73% in Jan-July period
China's property giants to build NEV charging poles for households
Shanghai Disney Resort celebrates Chinese New Year
E China's Zhejiang sees robust foreign trade in 2019
2020 Toronto Int'l Boat Show held in Canada
China's electric vehicles zoom into 2020 Vienna Autoshow
Top 10 Hurun's Chinese private companies in 2019
Kuwait launches 2nd aviation show to introduce latest developments
Most Viewed in 24 Hours
China to curb spread of the new coronavirus-related pneumonia
Highlights from foreign investment law implementation
Top 10 areas for investment in next three years
Guangdong, Jiangsu GDPs estimated at over 10t yuan in 2019
China moves up three places in global prosperity index
China's economic performance in 2019
Q&A With CEO
Japanese consumer goods giant Kao to boost R&D, investment
Danone eyes healthy growth in nation
2020 Winter Davos


I watch a lot of people on YouTube. Really, in this day and age I think I would be hard pressed to find someone who didn't occasionally lose themselves to the black hole of a video site. However, while I was watching one of the talk shows I enjoy (which may be a WCW for another day) I was introduced to another geeky baking aficionado. And, well, long-time readers know I have a weakness for gaming eats and treats. So today I bring to you, readers, Rosanna Pansino and her Nerdy Nummies show.
The thing that I really love about Rosanna is her cheerfulness. She has such a fantastic attitude and an obvious love for what she's doing that it makes every video a joy to watch. While there's a small variety of food types on her channel, Rosanna mostly deals in baked goods and candies, which is fantastic for people who have a sweet tooth like I do. From Princess Peach cobbler to Lumpy Space Princess cheesecake, it's fun to see just how Rosanna is going to bring the game and cartoon figures we've come to know and love to life in an edible fashion.
However, it's rare that Rosanna is alone on her channel. I mentioned her being a guest on a YouTube talk show earlier, but she's no stranger to having guests on her show as well. Reaching out beyond the outwardly nerdier side of YouTube (and also Neil deGrasse Tyson!) to other YouTubers who may not seem nerdy at first, she presents such a welcoming image of the nerdy community. I mean really, who doesn't like eating yummy things and enjoying your interests with like-minded people—geeky gatekeepers, I hope you're taking notes. And alongside that, Rosanna also shares many episodes with her sister, Molly. The two of them have such a cute sibling relationship! It's a pleasure to see two girls unrepentantly enjoying themselves, on top of having the confidence to be silly and tease each other.
If you're having a stressful day, I would definitely recommend putting one of these videos on and just letting yourself be swept away by the cute cheerfulness of Nerdy Nummies or one of the other non-cooking videos Rosanna has on her channel. The videos are family friendly so you won't have to worry about any sudden yelling or ill-timed f-bombs. Additionally, all of her videos are closed captioned, which makes them accessible for a wider range of people: something which we should always strive for. To wrap things up, allow me to share a video that combines two of my passions in life: Harvest Moon and tiramisu.
You can follow Rosanna on YouTube, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, or Instagram!
This entry was posted in Geek, Internet, opinion, Video Games, Web Crush Wednesdays and tagged Cartoons, Cooking, Food, geek, nerd, Nerdy Nummies, Rosanna Pansino, video games, Web Crush Wednesdays, youtube by Tsunderin. Bookmark the permalink.
Greetings and salutations! Feel free to just call me Rin—we're all friends here, or nemeses who just haven't gotten to know each other well enough. I'm a video game lover from the womb to the tomb, and Bioware enthusiast until the day they stop making games with amazing characters that I cry over. And while I don't partake as often as I used to, don't be surprised to find me poking around an anime or manga every once in a while either. A personal interest for me is characterization in media and how women in particular have been portrayed, are being portrayed, and will be portrayed in the future. I'm not going to mince words about my opinion either.


text:
Community support sends MTSU s..
Friends create fund to send MTSU graduate's ...
Survey ranks MTSU Mass Comm pr..
Friends create fund to send MTSU graduate's body home to Ghana
An account has been established at SunTrust Bank to help defray funeral expenses for an MTSU graduate killed in a highway accident.
Philip Akoto, a 33-year-old mathematical sciences major who received his master's degree in May, died when his car collided with a tractor-trailer Dec.14 at the intersection of Joe B. Jackson Parkway and Elam Road in Murfreesboro.
Akoto, a native of Kumani, Ghana, was on his way to work at Amazon Fulfillment Center on Joe B. Jackson Parkway when the incident occurred. The cause of the accident is under investigation.
He is survived by a sister, who lives in Ghana, and an uncle, who lives in New York, N.Y.
Richard Ewool, a graduate teaching assistant in the Center for Computational Sciences, and George Obeng, an instructor in the College of University Studies, have established a fund to raise money to send Akoto's body home to Ghana.
Philip Akoto
Contributions may be made to the Philip Akoto Benefit Account at any branch of SunTrust Bank.
"Philip was a gentle and kind young man," said Dr. Rebecca Calahan, one of Akoto's professors. "As a mathematics graduate teaching assistant from August 2011 to May 2013, Philip worked as a mathematics tutor and helped many MTSU students."
"He kept to himself," said Obeng. "He loved soccer and sports and was very generous."
Ewool, who was Akoto's roommate, shared a quote Akoto had posted on his Facebook page that Ewool said revealed Akoto's love of God. It reads, "The loss of gold is great/The loss of health is more/But losing Christ is such a loss/As no man can restore."
For more information about the fund, contact Dustin Vernon at SunTrust Bank at 615-848-2447 or dustin.d.vernon@suntrust.com.
—Gina K. Logue (gina.logue@mtsu.edu)
campus community, international education, Middle Tennessee State University, MTSU, student news


What is a Samuel K Designer Window ? - It is a custom, hand assembled, seamless, layered design that is applied to the existing window.
How does the cost compare with a Stained Glass Window ? - A Samuel K Designer Window is very economical - a typical bathroom window measuring 16 sq.ft. costs less than $300. A Stained Glass Window will cost about 5 times more.
How much privacy will I get ? - Our Designer Window should provide you greater privacy than Stained Glass.
Will the moisture in the bathroom affect the product ? - No, not at all.
What maintenance is required ? - Simply wipe with a damp cloth as needed. Do not use ammonia based cleaners or any abrasive cleaning product.
Can I Do My Own Installation? - Our product is so easy to install. Requires no drilling to install - Applied in 15 minutes - No special skills required for installation -Easy to handle, no pressure sensitive adhesive to worry about - Can be removed and re-installed - No trimming - pre-cut to fit the window.
Will the colors in the product fade ? - Our materials are all manufactured with U.V. protection, we offer our 10 year warrantee against discoloring and fading.
Is there a warantee? - We provide a 10 year limited warrantee against delaminating, peeling and discoloring.
Is the Samuel K Designer Window energy efficient ? - Yes, it has a 98% UV protection factor. Our Designer Window will reduce the heat in summer and retain the warmth in winter.
Will it affect the integrity of the glass ? - No, it will enhance the integrity of the glass.
How long will I have to wait for my Designer Window? - Your Designer Window will be ready to ship to your home and install within 21 days after finalization of the order.
Custom Designs - We are able to create almost any design you could imagine - a custom artwork fee might apply..
Value - Costs 1/5 price of Stained Glass Window & less than a shutter.
Applications - Made to fit any shape window , better application than blinds or shutters on doors, sidelights, transoms & odd shaped windows.


We have found 3 profiles in 2 states and 2 counties for Randy Peebles including in Cumberland, TN; Cass, IA.
3 records for Randy Peebles are found in 2 states.
According to the matching records found for people named Randy Peebles, the 33.3% are arrestees above 47 years old.
Summary: 60-year-old Randy P Peebles was arrested in Cass, Iowa . All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Cass County Law Enforcement and others with information about this arrest and related court dates can be contacted for updated information on this arrest.
Summary: Cumberland County Law Enforcement arrested 43-year-old Randy Peebles on May 20, 2016. Peebles and all others arrested are presumed innocent until proven guilty. To get more information about this arrest, contact one of the local police agencies below: Cumberland County Law Enforcement.
Summary: Cumberland County Law Enforcement arrested 40-year-old Randy Peebles on May 16, 2014. Peebles and all others arrested are presumed innocent until proven guilty. To get more information about this arrest, contact one of the local police agencies below: Cumberland County Law Enforcement.


text:
Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Monday, 18 January 2021 [GMT +1]
MISSIONARIES KILLED
Acts of the Holy See
CEP Appointments
AFRICA/CENTRAL AFRICA - "Armed groups control almost 80% of the territory and threaten our future", denounce the Bishops
Monday, 7 September 2020 armed groups elections bishops
Precarious calm in Bangui after the failure of the rebel offensive
Security forces thwart rebel offensive against the capital
Appointment of the National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies
Bangassou, a ghost town. Bishop describes the situation as "calm but tense"
Bishop reports dead and wounded after the siege of Bangassou
Instability and tension on the eve of the vote: Christmas in uncertainty
Bangui (Agenzia Fides) - "There are signs of hope, but the continued presence of armed groups threatens the future of the country". This is how the cry of alarm of the Bishops of the Central African Republic contained in their Pastoral Letter "Let my people out", published yesterday, Sunday 6 September, can be summarized.
"After the coup d'etat of March 2013, our Country was endowed with democratic institutions in March 2016. Through the vote and elections, the people gave themselves a new Constitution and legitimate authorities", the Bishops recall. Among the progress made is the Accord Politique pour la Paix et la Réconciliation en République Centrafricaine (APPRCA) signed in 2019 by 14 armed groups with the government.
"Dear brothers and sisters, on a political level, we ask ourselves about the effectiveness of republican institutions in the reconstruction of our Country", reads the message sent to Agenzia Fides. "We note with bitterness that 70% or even 80% of our Country is occupied by armed groups, some of which are led by the most ferocious mercenaries". These groups - the Bishops say - "are involved in war crimes, crimes against humanity, environmental crimes and the large-scale looting of our mineral resources. They committed blood crimes against innocent people in Bocaranga, Bohong, Bozoum, Besson, Bouar, Birao, Ndélé, Bria, Lemouna, Koudjili".
"The warlords take advantage of the political agreement for peace and reconciliation, taking advantage of the concessions offered to them by the latter, in particular the full freedom of movement. They have imposed the business of war, an economic model based on human blood", the Bishops affirm, who sound the alarm that some of these groups are "strengthening, recruiting new fighters and increasing stocks of armaments and ammunition". "Have they not yet given up on the partition plan for our Country? Will they try to achieve this by interrupting the electoral process?".
"When traveling through the Central African Republic, it is terrifying to encounter entire villages forced into abandonment by their populations or set on fire by unpunished criminals. Families prefer to live in exile or stay in camps for displaced people which are sometimes 100 meters from their homes".
"Which leaders will be able to bring out the inhabitants of the Central African Republic from oppression, misery and ignorance?", ask the Bishops in view of the presidential elections in December. The message is especially aimed at young people and women. The Bishops exhort the former not to be "an inexhaustible reservoir of cannon fodder, but the most important resource of our Country". The message asks them to refuse the exchange vote and to refrain from violently contesting the results of the vote. They ask women to mobilize to actively participate in the electoral process as candidates, educators and promoters of non-violence at all levels where you can be useful to our Country".
"May the Virgin Mary, Queen of heaven and earth, make the efforts for transparent, credible and peaceful elections fruitful, that they give us true leaders at the service of the people following the example of Moses", the message concludes. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 7/9/2020)
armed groups
ASIA/PHILIPPINES - The need to shed light on the unpunished massacre in Panay: the request of civil society and religious organizations
NEWS ANALYSIS - Cardinal Ambongo: in Congo amidst the crisis and risks of balkanization, the Church alongside the people
AMERICA/NICARAGUA - "Politics is not the simple art of managing power, resources or crises", warns Bishop Álvarez, in the face of the increase in violence
AFRICA/NIGER - The number of displaced people is increasing after the massacres of January 2
ASIA/PHILIPPINES - Appeal of the Bishops of the Visayas: stop the killings of indigenous peoples
AMERICA/EL SALVADOR - The Archbishop of San Salvador: after 29 years the peace agreements have yet to be fulfilled and injustice continues
The contents of the site are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Contact editorial staff
Cancel your subscription to the newsletter


Rumours that Jessica Simpson is pregnant have been circulating for a while, but now it seems she's close to revealing all.
The New York Post reports that she's looking for a deal worth half a million dollars to exclusively tell her story, with fiancé Eric Johnson.
"But it was typical Jessica that she was making a joke of it."
Aww, we'd love it to be true - her sister Ashlee's son Bronx will have a cousin to look after!
Pregnant Jessica Simpson: changing shape is good!


text:
Q: Getting the number of formset's id in Django In forms.py I have created a formset using formset_factory with extra=6
  class Associe(forms.Form):
      nom= forms.CharField(max_length=40)
  AssocieFormSet=formset_factory(Associe,extra=6)

in my page.html I wrote a loop to write my forms 6 times, but I nead the number in the id, I know Django will give form-0-nom for the first element, and id_form-1-nom for the seconde element and so on, and I know how to get the whole id of the element.
But how can I get only the number of each element's id?

A: I think an easy way of getting the form number would be by using the template tags forloop.counter0 or forloop.counter. So with forloop.counter0, form-0-nom will have the number 0 within that iteration and you can do what you want with that number.
Django Built In Template Tags

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
14. VA-EYRA 5783
January 15, 2023 January 22, 2023 ~ sedrasummary from Rabbi Eric H. Hoffman
Exodus 6:2-9:35
In last week's Sedra Shemot, Pharaoh increased the Israelites' burdens in retaliation for demands by Moses and Aaron. The Officers of the Children of Israel then blamed Moses and Aaron for provoking Pharaoh. Thereupon Moses confronted the Eternal: Nothing but evil has befallen the Children of Israel, and You have done nothing to rescue them! The Eternal promises Moses that He will apply a "strong hand" to Pharaoh so that he will actually drive them out from his land. In this week's Sedra Va-eyra, God expands upon His promised redemption and begins to impose the "strong hand" that He promised, the first seven of ten plagues upon Egypt.
Promise and Plague
MOSES DELIVERS GOD'S ASSURANCES TO ISRAEL
God speaks to Moses and says to him, "I am the Eternal," identifying Himself to Moses as the same One who "appeared" (Va-eyra) to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, but as "God Almighty." "I was not known to them as 'the Eternal'" (Exodus 6:2-3). I established My covenant with them to give them the Land of Canaan, where they were sojourning. Now, as I have heard the groaning of the Children of Israel from Egyptian bondage, I remember My covenant. Therefore say to the Children of Israel: I am the Eternal, I shall bring you out from under the burdens of Egypt, I shall rescue you from their bondage, I shall redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments, I shall take you as My people and I shall be your God whom you shall know as the One who brings you out from under the burdens of Egypt, and I shall bring you to the Land which I promised to your fathers and give it to you as an inheritance. Moses delivers this message to the Children of Israel, but their impatience and their oppression prevent them from listening.
MOSES, "UNCIRCUMCISED OF LIPS"
The Eternal instructs Moses to tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to let the Children of Israel go from his land. Moses responds before the Eternal, "Since the Children of Israel do not listen to me, how shall Pharaoh heed me, considering that 'I am uncircumcised of lips'" (Exodus 6:12)! So the Eternal then charges both Moses and Aaron regarding Pharaoh and the release of the Children of Israel from Egypt.
SELECTIVE GENEALOGY OF ISRAEL'S DESCENDANTS
These are the heads of their respective father's houses:
Of Reuben,
Israel's firstborn:
Chanoch, Pallu, Chetzron, Carmi
Of Simeon:
Yemuel, Yamin, Ohad, Yachin, Tsochar, Saul son of a Canaanite woman
Of Levi:
Gershon, Kehath, Merari
in the order of their birth
Levi lived for 137 years
These descendants of Levi
are the heads of the Levite families:
Of Gershon:
Livni, Shimei
Of Kehath:
Amram, Yitzhar, Chevron, Uzziel
Kehath lived 133 years
Of Merari:
Machli, Mushi
Next Generation:
Of Amram,
who married his Aunt Yocheved:
Aaron, Moses
Amram lived 137 years
Of Yitzhar:
Korach, Nepheg, Zichri
Of Uzziel:
Mishael, Eltzaphan, Sithri
Of Aaron,
who married Elisheva,
daughter of Amminadav
and sister of Nachshon:
Nadav, Avihu, Elazar, Ithamar
Of Korach:
Assir, Elkanah, Aviassaph
Of Elazar,
who married a daughter of Putiel:
These are the Aaron and Moses whom the Eternal appointed to speak to Pharaoh in order to take the Children of Israel out of Egypt. This is the Moses whom the Eternal instructed to impart to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, "exactly the words that I speak to you" (Exodus 6:29). Yet Moses demurs, saying, "I am of uncircumcised lips, so how should Pharaoh listen to me" (Exodus 6:30)?
THE ETERNAL EXPLAINS HIS PLAN
The Eternal answers Moses's objection by explaining that he and Aaron would play the respective roles of God and prophet before Pharaoh. "You speak all that I command you, and Aaron your brother will speak to Pharaoh" (Exodus 7:2) about letting the Children of Israel go out of his land. "Nonetheless," the Eternal explains to him, "I shall harden Pharaoh's resolve in order to multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt" (Exodus 7:3). When Pharaoh does not listen to you, I will then have cause to lay My hand against Egypt and ultimately bring out the hosts of My people with great judgments. The Egyptians will then know Me as the Eternal when I extend My hand over Egypt and bring out the Children of Israel. So Moses and Aaron do what the Eternal commands them. Moses is 80 years old and Aaron is 83 years old when they speak to Pharaoh.
AARON'S STAFF TURNS INTO A SNAKE
The Eternal prepares Moses and Aaron to show Pharaoh miraculous evidence of their authority. When Pharaoh asks for a sign, Moses is to instruct Aaron to cast his staff before Pharaoh so that it turns into a snake (cf. Exodus 4:2-5). Accordingly, when they do come before Pharaoh, they follow the plan and Aaron throws his staff in front of Pharaoh and his servants, and it turns into a snake. Thereupon Pharaoh summons his sages and sorcerers, who do the same thing with their magical powers: each one casts his staff and they all turn into snakes. But Aaron's staff swallows all of their staffs! Nonetheless Pharaoh's resolve is strengthened, and he does not listen to them, as the Eternal had spoken.
THE FIRST PLAGUE: BLOOD
The Eternal observes to Moses that Pharaoh remains stubborn in his refusal to let the people go. So He orders Moses to intercept Pharaoh in the morning on the shore as he goes out to the Nile, and say to him: "The Eternal, God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you to demand, 'Let My people go so that they may worship Me in the wilderness' (Exodus 7:16)! and you ignored His words. So now the Eternal says that He will cause you to know that He is the Eternal when I use this rod that is in my hand, the staff that turned into a snake before, to strike the water that is in the Nile, so that it is turned into blood! The fish in the Nile will die, the river will reek, and the Egyptians will be unable to drink its water."
When the Eternal gives Moses the word, he passes the divine order to Aaron: "Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their canals, over their lakes, over every gathering of their waters, so that they turn into blood and there is blood in all the land of Egypt, even in the trees and in the stones" (Exodus 7:19)! Aaron lifts up the rod and strikes the Nile's water in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and all of the water in the Nile turns to blood. The fish die, the Nile reeks, and the Egyptians cannot drink the water; there is blood in all the land of Egypt!
But when the Egyptian magicians do the same, Pharaoh's will is reinforced and he disregards the demand of Moses and Aaron, as the Eternal had predicted. Indifferently, he returns to his palace, while all the Egyptians have to dig around the Nile for water to drink.
THE SECOND PLAGUE: FROGS
Seven days later, the Eternal bids Moses deliver the following message to Pharaoh: "'Let My people go, that they may worship Me; and if you refuse, I shall strike your entire country with the plague of frogs' (Exodus 7:27)! The Nile will swarm with frogs. They shall enter your palace, your bedroom, even your bed, the homes of your servants and your people, your ovens and your utensils; frogs will be all over all of you." The Eternal tells Moses to give the word to Aaron to stretch out his hand with his staff over all the bodies of water and bring the frogs up over the land of Egypt. Aaron does so, and the plague of frogs covers the land of Egypt. But the magicians of Egypt also do so with their sorcery and bring up the frogs over the land of Egypt.
Pharaoh summons Moses and Aaron: "Entreat the Eternal to remove the frogs from me and from my people, and I shall let the people go to sacrifice to the Eternal (cf. Exodus 5:1)" (Exodus 8:4)! Moses grants Pharaoh the honor of designating when he should entreat the Eternal to cut off the plague of frogs, leaving them only in the Nile. Pharaoh designates the morrow, and Moses agrees, adding, "in order that you may know that there is none like the Eternal our God" (Exodus 8:6)! Moses complies, and the Eternal acts in accordance with his request. The frogs that were in the houses, that were in the towns and in the countryside, all die and are piled in heaps, causing the land to reek. Then, when Pharaoh observes that there is some relief, he remains adamant and does not heed their request, as the Eternal had spoken.
THE THIRD PLAGUE: LICE
The Eternal instructs Moses to tell Aaron: "Hold out your rod and strike the dust of the earth so that it turns into lice in all the land of Egypt" (Exodus 8:12)! Moses and Aaron comply, so that there is a plague of lice against both man and beast. The magicians of Egypt also, employing their sorcery, try to produce lice, but this time without success. As the plague of lice persists, the magicians declare to Pharaoh, "It is the hand of God" (Exodus 8:15)! Yet Pharaoh's will remains unchanged. He does not honor their request, as the Eternal had spoken.
THE FOURTH PLAGUE: SWARM OF WILD BEASTS
Once again the Eternal has Moses arise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he goes out to the water, and declare: "Thus says the Eternal, 'Let My people go, that they may worship Me, for if you do not let My people go, then I will let go a swarm of wild beasts upon you, your servants, your people, your homes…and your land'" (Exodus 8:17). "'But on that day,'" He continues, "'I will distinguish the land of Goshen, dwelling-place of My people, to be without the wild beasts, so that you will know that I, the Eternal, have a presence even within your land. Thus I redeem My people as against your people, a sign which will be apparent tomorrow.'" So the Eternal brings a swarm of wild beasts against the houses of Pharaoh and his servants. Throughout the land of Egypt there is ruination because of the rampage of beasts.
Pharaoh then offers Moses and Aaron an apparent compromise: "Go, sacrifice to your God in the land (Exodus 8:21) rather than outside of it in the wilderness." "It would not be right to do that," replies Moses, "because Israelite sacrifices are offensive to the Egyptians. If we performed them openly within Egypt, the Egyptians would stone us (Exodus 8:22)! No, we need to go three days' journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Eternal our God as He instructs us." Pharaoh concedes: "I shall let you go, and you may sacrifice to the Eternal your God in the wilderness; but do not go too far, and pray for me" (Exodus 8:24)! Moses cautiously accepts Pharaoh's offer and agrees to petition the Eternal that the wild beasts depart from Pharaoh, his servants and his people, on the morrow. "But let Pharaoh," he says to Pharaoh, "not continue to deceive by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Eternal" (Exodus 8:25)!
When Moses takes leave of Pharaoh, he entreats the Eternal as promised to Pharaoh, and the Eternal acts accordingly. The plague of wild beasts is removed from Pharaoh, his servants and his people, entirely. But Pharaoh maintains his opposing will again this time. He does not let the people go.
THE FIFTH PLAGUE: PESTILENCE
The Eternal again instructs Moses to visit Pharaoh and declare: "Thus says the Eternal, God of the Hebrews: 'Let My people go, that they may worship Me' (Exodus 9:1)! Otherwise, the hand of the Eternal will attack your livestock, your horses, your asses, your camels, your herds and your flocks, with a very severe pestilence. But, miraculously, the livestock of the Children of Israel will not die, only that of the Egyptians."
The Eternal establishes in advance a time for doing this, the morrow, and so on the morrow all of the livestock of Egypt perishes, but not one of Israel. Pharaoh inquires and finds it to be true that not one of Israel's livestock has died, but he remains obstinate. He does not let the people go.
THE SIXTH PLAGUE: BOILS
The Eternal directs Moses and Aaron to take from the kiln handfuls of soot, which Moses should then throw up towards the sky before Pharaoh. It will spread over the land as a fine dust causing boils to erupt on the skin of man and beast in all of the land of Egypt.
Thus they do, and the inflammation afflicts man and beast, preventing even the magicians from standing up before Moses. Now the Eternal empowers the will of Pharaoh so that he does not listen to them, as the Eternal had spoken to Moses.
THE SEVENTH PLAGUE: HAIL
The Eternal orders Moses to rise early the next morning, take his stand before Pharaoh, and say, as before, "Thus says the Eternal, God of the Hebrews: 'Let My people go, that they may worship Me'" (Exodus 9:13)! Moses is to explain to Pharaoh: "'At this point,' says the Eternal, 'I have been sending "all of My plagues" to you, Pharaoh, in particular (literally, "to your heart") and against your servants and your people "in order that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth" (Exodus 9:14). By now I could have stretched forth My hand with pestilence and completely destroyed you and your people. But I have kept you standing in order to show you My power and to let My Name be known in all the earth. Yet you continue to stand above My people, refusing to let them go.
"'Tomorrow I shall bring upon you an exceedingly severe rain of hail, the like of which Egypt has never known. Shelter your livestock, shelter every man and beast, for if they remain outside under the hail, they shall die. Those of Pharaoh's servants who fear the word of the Eternal shall shelter their own servants and livestock indoors. Those who disregard the word of the Eternal will leave them outside.'"
The Eternal then orders Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the heavens that there be hail in all the land of Egypt, over man and over beast and over every blade of grass in the field…" (Exodus 9:22). As Moses extends his staff towards the heavens, the Eternal sends thunder and hail containing a stream of fiery lightning down to earth, over the land of Egypt, which had seen nothing like it since the days in which it became a nation. The hail strikes down all who are in the open, man and beast, the grass of the field, and it shatters every tree. Only in the land of Goshen, the place of the Children of Israel, is there no hail.
Then Pharaoh sends for Moses and Aaron and says to them, "I declare my guilt at this time; the Eternal is right, and I and my people are wrong" (Exodus 9:27). He asks them to entreat the Eternal to put an end to the thunder and hail. "I will surely let you go; you will wait no longer" (Exodus 9:28)! Moses responds that on his way out of the city he will hold out his hands to the Eternal, and the thunder and the hail will cease "in order that you may know that the earth is the Eternal's, even though I know that you and your servants do not yet fear the Eternal God" (Exodus 9:29-30).
A survey of the hail's damage shows that early-ripening produce, such as flax and barley, were ruined, while late-ripening crops, such as wheat and spelt, were not.
Upon leaving the city, Moses duly spreads his hands to the Eternal: thunder, hail and rain, then cease. When Pharaoh enjoys their cessation, he sins again: he and his servants remain stubborn. Pharaoh does not let the Children of Israel go, as the Eternal had foretold "by the hand of Moses" (cf. Exodus 7:3-6). (Exodus 9:33-35)
Haftarah for Shabbat Va-eyra
Ezekiel 28:25-29:21
Another Egypt
If the date put forward in 29:1 refers to the tenth year of the reign of Zedekiah, the last of the kings of Judah, then the Prophecy came only a few months before the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E.
OPENING ASSURANCE OF ISRAEL'S REDEMPTION
The Lord God looks forward
to His gathering the House of Israel
from their dispersion among other peoples.
"Then I shall be sanctified through them
in the eyes of the other nations;
and they shall dwell upon their Land,
which I have given to My servant Jacob."
Their dwelling shall be secure.
They shall build homes and plant vineyards,
as I, the Eternal, their God,
execute judgments against their adversaries.
PROPHECY AGAINST PHARAOH
The word of the Eternal came to me
on the twelfth day of the tenth month of the tenth year:
O son of man,
focus your attention on Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
and prophesy against him and Egypt.
Pharaoh is a bloated dragon
who lies astride his canals,
which he considers his own
and such that he claims
"I have created the Nile for myself!"
Well, I will extract you from those rivers
by placing hooks in your jaws!
As I lift you up,
fish will get caught in your scales.
Then I will put you and them down
onto the ground,
into the wilderness,
with no redemption,
prey for beasts and birds.
The reason for this treatment
is that they were a staff of reed
to the House of Israel.
"When Israel thought
that they could depend upon you,
you would break like a reed
and pierce their shoulder."
EXILE OF EGYPT
So I am bringing the sword upon you,
cutting off man and beast,
desolation to the land of Egypt
from Migdol to Syene
as far as the border of Nubia.
I am against your rivers
because Pharaoh said:
The river is mine!
I made the river!
The foot of
neither man nor beast
shall inhabit it
or pass through it
for forty years.
I shall make the land of Egypt desolate
and scatter the Egyptians
among the nations,
then at the end of forty years
I shall gather them back,
but in low estate,
to Pathros, their origin,
no more to rule over others,
no more the confidence of Israel,
but rather a reminder
of Israel's mistake in turning to them,
and they shall know
that I am the Lord God.
BABYLONIAN CONQUEST OF EGYPT
on the first day of the first month
in the twenty-seventh year:
Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylonia,
achieved a great service
in the siege of Tyre.
But what shall be his compensation
for his great effort?
I shall give him the land of Egypt,
all of its wealth,
as his compensation
as wages for his army.
FINAL ASSURANCE OF ISRAEL'S REDEMPTION
On that day
I shall bring prosperity
to the House of Israel
and vindication of your Prophecy
in their midst,
that I am the Eternal.
Exodus Rabbah 6:1
Divine Words vs. Human Reason
"God speaks to Moses
and says to him:
'I am the Eternal [YKVK]…'"
(Exodus 6:2)
What is the import of the double utterance,
"speaks" and "says?"
This can be understood through the following
words of Solomon:
"I turned to apply wisdom—
accompanied by madness and folly—
for what can man do,
coming after the King,
who has already commanded it!"
These words were said about both Solomon and Moses.
About Solomon:
When God gave the Torah to Israel, He spoke, on the one hand, positive and negative commandments for everyone, and said, on the other, special commandments for the king, such as, "He shall not have many (yarbeh) horses…and he shall not have many (yarbeh) wives, lest his heart go astray, and he shall not possess an overabundance of silver or gold" (Deuteronomy 17:16-17). But then Solomon the king evaluated the divine King's edict in the light of reason. "Why did the Holy One, blessed be He, say, 'he shall not have many wives?' Was it not, 'lest his heart go astray?' Well, I can hold many wives, yet my heart will not go astray!"
Our Rabbis taught: At that moment, the yod [smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet] of yarbeh, which distinguished the verses as commandments, viz., "He shall not have many," appealed, "O Master of the universe, did You not say, 'Not a single letter of the Torah shall be voided ever?' Yet Solomon is voiding me. Today he voids one letter, the next day another, until eventually all of the Torah is voided!" The Holy One, blessed be He, responded, "Solomon and a thousand like him may be voided themselves, but I will not allow even the smallest mark of the Torah to be removed!"
"I am weary O God [l'iti El],
and I am consumed [v'uchal]!"
Solomon's use of reason to exclude "he shall not have many wives lest his heart go astray" from applying to him, reflects his thinking when he wrote, "God is with me [l'iti El], so I can overcome [v'uchal] (the temptations)" (Proverbs 30:1)! But then, "In Solomon's old age, his wives turned his heart after other gods" (I Kings 11:4). Said Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai: Solomon would have preferred cleaning sewers over having that verse written about him! This is why Solomon ultimately wrote: I turned to apply my own wisdom to words of Torah, and I failed, my own reasoning being madness and folly, for what can man do to understand and explain what the King has already commanded" (cf. Ecclesiastes 2:12)? Moreover, God's words are vetted by His heavenly counsel, and thus said Solomon: "Every word of God is tested" (Proverbs 30:5), that is, "The matter is determined by the decree of angels" (Daniel 4:14)!
About Moses:
Early on, at the burning bush, the Holy One, blessed be He, announced to Moses that Pharaoh would not initially let the people go: "I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go except by a strong hand, so I will send forth My hand and strike Egypt with all of My wonders…and only then shall they let you go" (Exodus 3:19-20)! But Moses did not hold on to this announcement and instead he began to apply his own wisdom to the divine edict when he was met with the Israelite Officers' complaint about Pharaoh's harshness: "O Lord, why have You done evil to this people? Why have You sent me?" (Exodus 5:22) As in the case of Solomon, his resort to reason was "madness and folly, for what can man do to understand and explain what the King has already determined?" (cf. Ecclesiastes 2:12), namely, that He already had disclosed to Moses that He would strengthen Pharaoh's resolve not to let the people go in order to bring judgment against him for enslaving them (cf. Exodus 4:21)!
Because of this presumption by Moses, divine justice (denoted by the divine appellation of "God") sought to condemn him, as expressed in the opening words, "God speaks to Moses…" (Exodus 6:2). But because the Holy One, blessed be He, recognized that Moses was speaking up for the suffering of Israel, divine compassion (denoted by the divine appellation of "Eternal") supersedes justice in the very next phrase, "…and says to him, 'I am the Eternal'" (ibid.)!
Prior Virtue
"I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob,
as 'God Almighty' [El Shaddai],
and was not known to them
by My Name 'The Eternal' [YKVK]—
yet I established My covenant with them
to give them the land of Canaan…"
(Exodus 6:3-4)
The Holy One, blessed be He, is saying to Moses: I have revealed to you (cf. Exodus 6:2) what I did not reveal to the Patriarchs, but how I miss their stalwart trust in Me! (See Exodus Rabbah 6:1 above to appreciate how different was Moses from the description of the Patriarchs here.) To Abraham I said, "Arise, walk the length and breadth of the Land, for I am giving it to you" (Genesis 13:17), then in order to bury Sarah in the Land he had to purchase a place with his own money, but Abraham did not call into question My assurance! To Isaac I said, "Sojourn in this Land, and I shall be with you and bless you, for I am giving you and your offspring all of these lands" (Genesis 26:3), then upon searching for a source of water "the shepherds of Gerar challenged the shepherds of Isaac over ownership of the water" (ibid. 20), but Isaac did not question My assurance! To Jacob I said, "The Land upon which you are lying (at Beth El) I shall give to you and your offspring" (Genesis 28:13), but later when Jacob returned from Paddan-aram, he had to "buy the parcel of field where he pitched his tent from the Children of Chamor, Shechem's father, for one hundred kesitahs" (Genesis 33:19), but Jacob did not question My assurance or ask Me for My Name as you, Moses, did! Indeed when I first sent you to Pharaoh, you demanded to know My Name (cf. Exodus 3:13), and after you came back, you complained to Me, "Why have You done evil to this people" (Exodus 5:22)!
"Yet I established My covenant with them to give them the Land…": Notwithstanding the challenges and reasons for doubt that the Patriarchs confronted in upholding the covenant, I was able to establish it with them because, for their part, they did not question My assurance.
"And also I have heard
the groaning of the Children of Israel
from Egyptian bondage,
and I remember My covenant."
The Children of Israel also have not questioned My assurance (as have you, Moses), and even though that generation did not live fully in accordance with the teachings of their ancestors, I shall remember the covenant that I made with their fathers and mothers, both the covenant that stands and also the virtues shown by the fathers and mothers with whom I made it.
Divine Assurances
"I established My covenant with them to give them the Land of Canaan, where they were sojourning. Now, as I have heard the groaning of the Children of Israel from Egyptian bondage, I remember My covenant. Therefore you should say to the Children of Israel: I am the Eternal, I shall bring you out from under the burdens of Egypt, I shall rescue you from their bondage, I shall redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments, I shall take you as My people and I shall be your God whom you shall know as the One who brings you out from under the burdens of Egypt, and I shall bring you to the Land which I promised to your fathers and give it to you as an inheritance." (Exodus 6:4-8)
I remember My covenant
Therefore you should say to Children of Israel
I shall bring you out
I shall rescue you
I shall redeem you
I shall take you
I shall bring you
Said Rabbi Samuel bar Nachman:
If the Holy One, blessed be He,
had not bound Himself with an oath,
besides the covenant,
Israel would never
have been redeemed from Egypt.
Where is the oath?
God's word "Therefore" before "you should say"
indicates an oath,
as can be inferred by analogy
from I Samuel 3:14,
where God says:
"Therefore I swear…"
Pesikta d'Rav Kahana 5:11
Whence do we derive Four Cups of Wine
for the Seder of Pesach?
Rabbi Yochanan taught:
They correspond to the four verbs of redemption to Israel:
"I shall…bring out…rescue…redeem…take…".
Those four verbs of redemption
correspond to the four edicts of oppression
that Pharaoh promulgated against them:
First, he ordered the taskmasters
to enforce a strict quota of harsh labor
upon the Children of Israel,
so that they would not have time
to sleep at home and thereby procreate.
Exodus Rabbah 1:12; cf. Exodus 1:11-14
Second, when he saw that they were
still procreating and increasing,
he condemned their male infants to death
at the hands of the midwives.
Exodus Rabbah 1:13; Exodus 1:15-16
Third, when the midwives
defied his decree,
he commanded all of his people
to cast the male Israelite babies into the Nile.
Exodus Rabbah 1:18; Exodus 1:22
Fourth, he ordered the taskmasters and officers
to refrain from providing raw materials for the bricks,
which the Children of Israel would then
have to gather themselves and still maintain
the daily quota of bricks.
Exodus Rabbah 5:18; Exodus 5:6-9
are also four cups of thanksgiving,
and each of the four verbs
refers to a unique reason for thanksgiving, as follows:
"I shall bring you out from under the burdens of Egypt":
The Holy One, blessed be He, will lighten their oppression,
but it does not mean
that they will be freed entirely from their oppression.
"I shall rescue you from their bondage":
They will no longer labor at all,
but they are still servants of Pharaoh
and their redemption is not yet complete.
"I shall redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments":
Although their redemption is now complete
and they are no longer servants of Pharaoh,
they are not yet a unique people,
belonging to the Holy One, blessed be He.
"I shall take you to Me as My people and I shall be your God"
whom you shall know
as the One who brings you out from under the burdens of Egypt."
Exodus Rabbah 6:4 with Maharzu
Jerusalem Talmud Pesachim 10:1
Torah Temimah Exodus 6:6
What of the fifth verb of redemption:
"And I shall bring you to the Land"
which I promised to your fathers
and give it to you as an inheritance?
Why did the Rabbis not ordain
a fifth cup of thanksgiving for it?
One cannot argue that the reason
for not having a fifth cup is because
"I shall bring you to the Land"
is not, strictly speaking, redemption,
for neither is,
"I shall take you to Me as My people…,"
yet there is a cup for that!
This might be the answer:
With our being in exile today,
with the Land of Israel under the control of foreigners,
it is impossible to raise a cup of thanksgiving
for the current situation.
Perhaps that is why they ordained
a special cup in the name of Eliahu:
to reflect our hope in his coming
and for the reconstitution of the Nation and the Land,
may he come speedily in our days.
The author, Baruch Halevi Epstein, died in Pinsk, Belarus, in 1941.
Jerusalem Talmud Rosh Hashanah 3:5
Israel, release your own slaves!
When Moses resists the divine command to speak to Pharaoh
because "I am uncircumcised of lips,"
the Eternal then charges both Moses and Aaron:
"The Eternal speaks to Moses and to Aaron and commands them
regarding the Children of Israel and regarding Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
to bring out the Children of Israel from the land of Egypt."
(Exodus 6:12-13)
The purpose of speaking with Pharaoh—
to bring out the Children of Israel from his land—
had already been said (cf. Exodus 3:10),
so what new mitzvah did the Eternal command them here?
Said Rabbi Samuel son of Rav Yitzchak:
He commanded them here
the mitzvah of releasing their own slaves.
And this is in accordance with the teaching of Rabbi Hila:
Israel was punished with the Babylonian Exile
expressly because they neglected the mitzvah
of releasing their own slaves.
This is also explained by the Prophet Jeremiah:
"I made a covenant with your fathers
on the day that I brought them out
of the land of Egypt,
from the house of bondage,
saying:
'At the end of seven years
each of you must release
your fellow Hebrew that was sold to you
and served you for six years;
you must let him go free from you!'
But your fathers did not pay attention
to what I commanded."
(Jeremiah 34:13-14)
So the mitzvah of releasing our own slaves
was taught to us even before Sinai
as a condition of our own redemption
from Egypt.
(Korban Ha-eydah Commentary)
"Moses" and "Aaron" in the Beit Midrash
"I am of uncircumcised lips," argues Moses,
"so how should Pharaoh listen to me?"
The Eternal answers his objection
by explaining that Moses and Aaron
would play the respective roles
of God and prophet before Pharaoh:
Moses, "you speak all that I command you,
and Aaron your brother will speak to Pharaoh…"
(Exodus 6:30-7:2)
But God does not say: You, Moses, like God, speak to Aaron, your prophet, and Aaron, your prophet, will speak to Pharaoh. Such a purely vertical hierarchy is what we might expect if Moses and Aaron are to play the respective roles of God and prophet before Pharaoh!
The Rabbis took the exact, more open wording of the verse to model the manner of teaching in the Rabbinic Beit Midrash: The teacher (here Moses) sits and teaches in a normal voice, while the interpreter (here Aaron) repeats in a louder voice what the teacher said, and the interpreter may add explanation. In this way, moreover, Moses can disregard his own perception of his impediment, Pharaoh can be impressed with the authority of the words, coming from Moses, and, with Aaron's amplification and elucidation, Pharaoh cannot object that the words are incomprehensible to him.
Why the Nile?
"Aaron lifts up the rod and strikes the Nile's water
in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants,
and all of the water in the Nile turns to blood."
Why was the Nile's water struck first,
before any of the other plagues?
Pharaoh and the Egyptians worshipped the Nile. Said the Holy One, blessed be He: Let Me strike their god first, and after that its people!
So one might infer that the best strategy against the faithful of another religion is to undermine their deity in their sight. But did not Isaiah prophesy, "It shall be on that day that the Eternal will attend to the host of heaven in heaven" and after that "to the kings of the earth on the earth" (Isaiah 24:21)!
In this regard we might add to the Midrash
consideration of the following verse:
"The heavens belong only to the Eternal,
but the earth He gave to the children of man."
(Psalms 115:16)
Exodus Rabbah 9:10
Why Aaron?
When the Eternal gives Moses the word,
Moses passes the divine order to Aaron:
"Take your rod and stretch out your hand
over the waters of Egypt…
so that they turn into blood…
in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants."
Rabbi Tanchum asked: Why was the water struck by Aaron and not by Moses? Said the Holy One, blessed be He: The waters which protected you, Moses, when you were cast into the Nile—it is not right that they should be struck by your hand; indeed let them not be struck by any except Aaron!
"One who responds to a good deed with evil—
evil will not depart from his house."
The Value of Everything
"If you refuse to let My people go,
I shall strike your entire country
with the plague of frogs!"
"The value of land [eretz] is the basis of everything [bakol];
even a king depends on the working of the land!"
(Ecclesiastes 5:8)
Interpret the Sage's words:
"The value of the earth [eretz] may be found in everything [bakol]!"
Our Rabbis taught this lesson from the Torah, that even creatures which you might consider useless, such as flies, fleas and mosquitoes, have their intended place in the creation of the world, as was said, "God saw all that He had made, and behold it was very good" (Genesis 1:31)!
Rabbi Acha son of Rabbi Chaninah extended their teaching to reptiles and swarms, which you might relegate to the same category as snakes, scorpions and hornets, yet all of them serve the purpose of the Holy One, blessed be He, as was said, "I shall send hornets for the purpose of driving out the Hivites, the Canaanites and the Hittites, from before you" (Exodus 23:28). Similarly, "I will dispatch [mashliach] a swarm of wild beasts upon you" (Exodus 8:17) reflects His purpose to make the swarm His agent [shaliach] of punishment against the Egyptians. For the same agency did He employ reptiles:
All of these peculiar agents of the Holy One, blessed be He,
which are otherwise regarded as pests,
reflect this interpretation of the Sage's words:
"The value and purpose of God's creation may be found in everything!"
"When you see a person
who accomplishes his work quickly,
before kings shall he stand,
and before the obscure
shall he not stand."
"The Eternal says to Moses:
'Arise early in the morning
and stand before Pharaoh
as he goes out…!'"
Why should he "arise early?"
Rabbi Berechia explained: Wicked Pharaoh observed that Moses was in the habit of appearing before him every morning. Annoyed, Pharaoh determined to evade Moses's next visit by going out before Moses was due to arrive. The Holy One, blessed be He, well acquainted with human motives, alerted Moses to Pharaoh's plan and therefore advised him to arrive that morning before Pharaoh could act to avoid him. This is what was meant by His words to Moses, "Arise early…" (Exodus 8:16), as we interpret:
"When you observe a person
who quickly evades his occupation,
then let the observer stand before kings…!"
Rabbi Pinchas the Kohen son of Rabbi Chama noted that the Eternal's instruction, "Arise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh…" (Exodus 8:16)! followed Pharaoh's refusal to repent after each of the first three plagues. This calls to mind the words of Elihu:
"The false-hearted invoke anger:
they do not cry for help when He afflicts them [kee asaram]
(interpreted as a prod to repentance)!"
(Job 36:13)
After the Holy One, blessed be He, afflicts the wicked as an opportunity for repentance, which the wicked rejects, He grants him another and even another. But after three rejections of three afflictions, the anger of the Holy One, blessed be He, is invoked, so that even if the wicked then seeks to repent (insincerely?), He locks the gate of repentance before him:
"The false-hearted invoke divine anger:
now they cannot cry for help because He has prevented them [kee asaram]
(now interpreted as an obstacle to repentance)!"
After rejecting three opportunities (three plagues!) for repentance, Pharaoh determines to engage in prayer before the Holy One, blessed be He. For this purpose he must "go out" (Exodus 8:16) because his palace is full of idols (Maharzu). Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, instructs Moses:
"Arise early in the morning
and block Pharoah's way
before he goes out…!'"
(Note how Pharaoh's will is subsequently bent
following the Fourth Plague: Exodus 8:21ff.)
The Sixth Plague
Shame of the Magicians
"The inflammation of boils afflicts man and beast,
preventing even the magicians from standing up before Moses."
Why did the Sixth Plague
prevent the magicians in particular
from standing up before Moses?
Because it was the magicians who advised Pharaoh to throw every Hebrew male that was born into the Nile, in order that Moses should die. It was the magicians also who would later condemn Moses to death when, as a child, he playfully removed Pharaoh's crown and placed it on his own head. Therefore the magicians "were unable to stand before Moses."
Commentary of Mirkin: Although the inflammation afflicted man and beast in general, the magicians felt themselves its special guilty target because of the leshon hara they had spoken against Moses. They recognized that the skin eruption of tsara'at is the unique punishment for slander, as it would be for Miriam (cf. Numbers 12:10). Hence, they felt the justice of the Sixth Plague as their own particular punishment and were therefore ashamed before Moses.
When the Holy One, blessed be He, sees that Pharaoh does not
change his mind on his own accord following the first five plagues,
the Eternal empowers the will of Pharaoh
so that he does not listen to Moses and Aaron:
"The Eternal strengthens the heart of Pharaoh,
and he does not listen to them,
as the Eternal had spoken to Moses" (Exodus 9:12):
"I shall harden Pharaoh's resolve in order to multiply
My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt" (Exodus 7:3).
Now, even if he wants to repent,
he cannot:
I shall harden his will!
So that I can punish him to the maximum!
Extraordinary Measures
"The Eternal then orders Moses,
'Stretch out your hand over the heavens
that there be hail in all the land of Egypt…'"
This, the Eternal's order to Moses, reflects, "Whatever the Eternal wants to do He does…" (Psalms 135:6) even though David said, "The heavens belong to the Eternal; it is (only) the earth that He gave over to man" (Psalms 115:16)!
This may be compared to the Roman emperor who decreed: The citizens of Rome may not go down to Syria, and the citizens of Syria may not go up to Rome! In the same way did the Holy One, blessed be He, create the world and decree: The heavens shall belong to the Eternal, and the earth shall belong to man (cf. Psalms 115:16)! Then, when He wished to give the Torah, He suspended the first edict and said: Elements of the lower realm may go up to the higher realm, and elements of the higher realm may come down to the lower realm, and I will be the First, as was said, "The Eternal came down upon Mount Sinai…" (Exodus 19:20), "and to Moses He said, 'Go up to the Eternal…'" (ibid. 24:1)!
"Whatever the Eternal wants to do
He does in the heavens and in the earth,
in the seas and all the depths."
Similarly, at Creation, He separated water from land, as was said, "Let the waters be gathered together…and let dry land appear…" (Genesis 1:9). Then, when He wanted, He brought the Flood, as was said, "All of the fountains of the great depth were opened…" (ibid. 7:11)!
Also, when He desired, He turned the Red Sea into dry land, as was said, "The Children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea" (Exodus 14:29), and, as David said, "He blasted the Red Sea so that it became dry, and He led them through the depth as through a desert" (Psalms 106:9), and then, when He wanted, He made the dry land sea, as the Prophet said, "He summons the waters of the sea and pours them upon the surface of the earth" (Amos 5:8).
Just so In Egypt, with Moses, who was upon the earth: Moses on earth was authorized to exercise control over the work of heaven: "The Eternal then orders Moses, 'Stretch out your hand over the heavens that there be hail in all the land of Egypt…'" (Exodus 9:22)!
Insincere Repentance
"When Pharaoh observes
that the rain, hail and thunder cease,
he resumes his sinning,
his will is strengthened…
and he does not release
the Children of Israel…"
Thus is the way of the wicked: When they are in distress, they humble themselves, but when their punishment is intermitted, they return to their misfeasance.
Such was the behavior of Nebuchadnezzar: As long as he felt secure in his own greatness, he would aggrandize himself with the words, "Behold great Babylon, which I have built in my great power as the royal residence for my glorious majesty" (Daniel 4:27)! But only when he was in distress did He offer praise to the Holy One, blessed be He, as he said with admitted qualification, "Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and glorify the King of heaven, all of whose ways are true…" (Daniel 4:34), "now," meaning only now!
Just so with Pharaoh: He "sends for Moses and Aaron and says to them, 'I declare my guilt at this time; the Eternal is right, and I and my people are wrong'" (Exodus 9:27), only "at this time," when he is in distress under the plague of hail. But then, "when Pharaoh observes that the rain, hail and thunder cease, he resumes his sinning…" (Exodus 9:34)!
Years of Famine
and I shall scatter the Egyptians
but in low estate…
no more the confidence of Israel…"
(Ezekiel 29:12-14)
"Pharaoh has a dream…out of the Nile come seven fat cows…
then seven gaunt cows come up and…eat the fat cows.
Seven healthy ears of grain are growing on a single stalk…
then seven thin ears of grain…sprout up…and swallow the healthy ears."
(Genesis 41:1-7)
While Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dream to foresee
seven years of great plenty
followed by seven years of famine (cf. Genesis 41:29-30),
the following opinions are found in the Midrash,
based upon the three iterations of Pharaoh's dream,
as cited below:
Rabbi Judah interpreted: Fourteen years of famine were foreseen, as Pharaoh saw in his dream, "Seven gaunt cows…and seven withered ears of grain…" (Genesis 41:1-7).
Rabbi Nechemia interpreted: Twenty-eight years of famine were foreseen, as Pharaoh saw in his dream, "Seven gaunt cows…and seven withered ears of grain…" (Genesis 41:1-7), and then repeated to Joseph, "Seven gaunt cows…and seven withered ears of grain…" (Genesis 41:17-24).
The Rabbis interpreted: Forty-two years of famine were foreseen, as Pharaoh saw in his dream, "Seven gaunt cows…and seven withered ears of grain…" (Genesis 41:1-7), then repeated to Joseph, "Seven gaunt cows…and seven withered ears of grain…" (Genesis 41:17-24), and then Joseph repeated to Pharaoh, "Seven gaunt cows are seven years, and the seven withered ears are seven years of famine" (Genesis 41:27).
"Joseph says to his brothers…
'This is two years of famine in the midst of the land…'"
(Genesis 45:6)
Rabbi Yosi son of Rabbi Chanina taught: The famine in Egypt actually lasted only two years, for when Jacob our father went down there, the famine was suspended. Rashi (s.v. Genesis 47:10): "Jacob blessed Pharaoh"—What was his blessing? That God should restore the Nile for his sake! This leaves forty unfulfilled foreseen years of famine in Egypt (42-2=40). When would they return? In the days of the Prophet who foresaw, "I shall make the land of Egypt desolate…, then at the end of forty years…"(Ezekiel 29:12-14)!
ParashaParashat HashavuaTorah PortionTorah ReadingWeekly Torah Portion
Published by sedrasummary from Rabbi Eric H. Hoffman
View all posts by sedrasummary from Rabbi Eric H. Hoffman
‹ Previous13. SHEMOT 5783
Next ›15. BO 5783


text:
Q: Extract portion of filename from path I need to extract 2 section of the filename from a path in 2 string.
e.g.: "C:\folder\folder\folder\00 00 00 filename.docx"
All files are named with the same patern. I require to optain 2 fields on the word document that will contain "00 00 00" (fix length) and "filename" (variable length).
Thanks,

A: Sub Test()
    VarStr = "C:\folder\folder\folder\00 00 00 filename.docx"
    TempArr = Split(VarStr, "\")
    TempArr(UBound(TempArr)) = Mid(TempArr(UBound(TempArr)), 1, Len(TempArr(UBound(TempArr))) - 5) 'remove .docx
    VarFixed = Mid(TempArr(UBound(TempArr)), 1, 8)
    VarVariable = Mid(TempArr(UBound(TempArr)), Len(VarFixed) + 2) 'ignore space

    MsgBox VarFixed & vbCrLf & VarVariable
End Sub


text:
Diageo full-year sales plunge as demand in bars, restaurants dries up
By Siddharth Cavale
(Reuters) - Diageo Plc, the world's largest spirits maker, took a 1.3 billion pound writedown as it reported a bigger than expected decline in underlying net sales on Tuesday as demand for its whisky, vodka and gin fell in nearly all markets.
FILE PHOTO: A bartender takes a bottle of Johnnie Walker whisky at Barmaglot bar in Almaty, Kazakhstan June 22, 2017. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/File Photo
The Johnnie Walker whisky maker took the 1.3 billion pound non-cash writedown related to its businesses in India, Nigeria, Ethiopia and the Windsor whisky brand in South Korea, blaming challenging trading conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Tuesday, the company reported an 8.4% drop in organic sales for the year ended June 30, larger than the 7.3% fall analysts had expected, company supplied estimates showed.
This marks the company's worst annual sales performance in more than a decade, according to Bernstein analysts.
Diageo shares were down 6.2% in early trading and was the biggest loser on the FTSE. The stock is down nearly 10% this year, better than the FTSE's 20% decline over the same period.
By region, organic sales in Asia fell the most, dropping 16% due to the impact of coronavirus-related closures of alcohol outlets and bars in India and Thailand, while in China demand was hit by the absence of the Chinese New Year.
The company's Latin America, Africa and Europe and Turkey markets also posted double-digit falls in sales, mainly due to disruptions to supply chains and fewer social occasions due to the pandemic.
North America was the only bright spot, with sales rising 2%, reflecting strong demand for tequilas and ready-to-drink beverages at supermarkets and alcohol stores, the company said.
Chief Financial Officer Kathryn Mikells said the strong results in North America, its biggest market by revenue, was because 80% of Diageo's sales came from retail stores, in contrast to other markets, where bars and restaurants make up most of the sales.
The company, which also makes Tanqueray Gin, Smirnoff Vodka and a wide range of scotch whiskey, said it was still unable to provide specific outlook for the year, after abandoning a full-year forecast in April. Its 4.5 billion pound ($5.9 billion) capital returns programme remains suspended.
"The hit to earnings should be short lived provided the global economy doesn't take too long to recover," William Ryder, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown said. "We think the group will continue to do well long term, but management will have to focus more on debt reduction than they probably would have liked."
The company also said it would keep paying a dividend, which Liberum analyst Nico Von Stackelberg called a "positive sign".
After a tough second half of the year "we should see sequential improvements (in the business) from here," he said in a note.
Diageo's business outlook was in contrast to French spirits makers Pernod Ricard and Remy Cointreau , which last month said the pandemic would not hit their full-year forecasts as strongly as initially feared.
Diageo's impairment charge follows those of other alcoholic beverage makers, AB InBev and Heineken. While AB Inbev took a $2.5 billion writedown related to its African operations last week, Heineken announced a nearly 550 million euro writedown on Monday.
Reporting by Siddharth Cavale in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr, Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and David Evans


Members of the Illinois student chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) received various honors including being named an outstanding student chapter at this year's annual student conference.
More than 1,200 undergraduates from 100 chemical engineering schools traveled to the conference that took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from October 27 to 30. While there, students met with engineering professionals and other students to share and develop knowledge and career skills and participated in competitions to foster teamwork and innovation.
Besides receiving the Outstanding Student Chapter Award, the following individual awards were presented to Isabel Ahrendt, Freshman Recognition Award, Morgan Bakies, first place in the Sustainability Poster competition and first place for the Harry West Student Paper Award, Nick Connolly, UOP/Honeywell ScaleUp Scholarship, Alia Khan, Dow ScaleUp Scholarship, Erica Peterson, Donald F. Othmer Sophomore Academic Excellence Award and Michael Richards, Corning ScaleUp Scholarship.
Assistant Professor Brendan Harley, who also serves as an advisor for the Illinois AIChE chapter, said the recognition that the students received is well-earned.
Morgan Bakies, a sophomore in Chemical Engineering, was honored for her research that she conducted at the University of Alabama this past summer as part of the Research Experience for Undergraduates program which gives undergraduates an opportunity to participate in research and allows students to continue on to graduate school or industrial research.
Bakies received the first place awards for her poster titled "C4 biofuel and high value biochemical production using metabolically engineered Clostridia," which focused on her work with Clostridium tyobutyricum to metabolically engineer the bacteria to produce more butanol for biofuel purposes.
She said presenting at the AIChE student conference provided essential networking. "My presentation gave me the wonderful experience of presenting research which will help to further my career as a chemical engineer while creating new relationships internationally with fellow chemical engineers and professors who share my passions," she said.
Bakies says she hopes her participation in the AIChE poster session will lead more undergraduate students to submit posters and abstracts in the future.
Illinois AIChE president and senior Alia Khan said she also wants to encourage students to compete in national paper and poster competitions. "You get to meet new faculty, have an amazing experience, and if you are looking to grad school it is a good way to build your network and bulk up your resume," she said.


text:
Q: How to create a ClassTag> in Java I am writing a spark-sql query that needs to broadcast something.
Now I have some codes like this. The generic type parameter is wrong.
final Broadcast<Dataset<Row>> b = sparkSession.sparkContext().broadcast(
                sparkSession.sql("My SQL"),
                classTag(Dataset.class)
        );

The createTag method:
private static <T> ClassTag<T> classTag(final Class<T> clazz) {
        return scala.reflect.ClassManifestFactory.fromClass(clazz);
}

How can I make the code compiles?

A: You'll have to cast it in a kind of ugly way:
classTag((Class<Dataset<Row>>) (Class<?>) Dataset.class)

Unfortunately, I don't know a better solution.


text:
The Centerbrook Congregational Church, also known as the Centerbrook Meeting House, is a historic church at 51 Main Street in the Centerbrook village of Essex, Connecticut.  It is a single-story wood-frame structure resting on a granite foundation, which is set on a knoll on the north side of Connecticut Route 153.  The main block was built in 1790, making it the oldest known church in Middlesex County and one of the oldest in the entire state.  The building added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

Description and history
The Centerbrook Congregational Church is prominently located in the village center of Centerbrook, on the north side of Main Street (Connecticut Route 154) east of Deep River Road.  It is a single-story frame structure, with a gabled roof and mostly clapboarded exterior.  A square tower projects from its five-bay front facade, rising to a belfry stage with louvered round-arch openings and a pyramidal roof.  Portions of the tower, and of the main gable are finished in decorative Victorian shingles.  The building corners are pilastered, and windows are topped by projecting cornices.

The church was built in 1790, but has seen numerous alterations in its long history.  Originally a plain rectangular structure, it was given Greek Revival features in an 1839 renovation, and the tower was added in 1889.  The 1889 renovations also included a substantial remaking of the interior, which is now nearly entirely late Victorian in style.  A two-story addition was added to the rear in 1972, adding space for a parish hall, Sunday school, and kitchen.

See also
National Register of Historic Places listings in Middlesex County, Connecticut

References

Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut
Churches completed in 1790
Churches in Middlesex County, Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in Middlesex County, Connecticut
1790 establishments in Connecticut
18th-century churches in the United States
Congregational churches in Connecticut
Essex, Connecticut


The Trinity Cinema Series - which is held in the award-winning gardens of the Clapham hospice - returns for a fifth year raising the funds for Trinity Hospice. Three nights of outdoor cinematic fun, all for a good cause. This year's line-up features The Breakfast Club, Casablanca and Mrs Doubtfire. You can bring your own refreshments, buy popcorn and home-made cakes on the night or opt for the VIP package where you get two tickets, a bottle of prosecco, popcorn and some other summery treats.
What are the best dining options near Trinity Summer Cinema Series London?
Trinity Summer Cinema Series gyms, sporting activities, health & beauty and fitness.
The best pubs near London Trinity Summer Cinema Series.
Trinity Summer Cinema Series clubs, bars, cabaret nights, casinos and interesting nightlife.
Where to have your meeting, conference, exhibition, private dining or training course near Trinity Summer Cinema Series.
From cheap budget hotels to luxury 5 star hotels see our deals for Royal Trinity Hospice hotels, including Holiday Inn Express London- Vauxhall Nine Elms from 71% off.