title: Women in Judaism

text: Orthodox women more recently began holding organized women's "tefila" (prayer) groups beginning in the 1970s. While all Orthodox legal authorities agree that women are prohibited from forming a "minyan" (prayer quorum) for the purpose of regular services, women in these groups have read the prayers and study Torah. A number of leaders from all segments of Orthodox Judaism have commented on this issue, but it has had a little, although growing, impact on Haredi and Sephardi Judaism. However, the emergence of this phenomenon has enmeshed Modern Orthodox Judaism in a debate which still continues today. There are three schools of thought on this issue:


title: Women in Judaism

text: In 2013, the Israeli Orthodox rabbinical organization Beit Hillel issued a halachic ruling which allows women, for the first time, to say the Kaddish prayer in memory of their deceased parents.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Traditionally, women are not generally permitted to serve as witnesses in an Orthodox Beit Din (rabbinical court), although they have recently been permitted to serve as "toanot" (advocates) in those courts. Women are also permitted to provide evidence under oath, and their statements are considered to be fully credible in ritual matters. The exclusion of women as witnesses has exceptions which have required exploration under rabbinic law, as the role of women in society and the obligations of religious groups under external civil law have been subject to increasing recent scrutiny.


title: Women in Judaism

text: The recent case of Rabbi Mordecai Tendler, the first rabbi to be expelled from the Rabbinical Council of America following allegations of sexual harassment, illustrated the importance of clarification of Orthodox halakha in this area. Rabbi Tendler claimed that the tradition of exclusion of women's testimony should compel the RCA to disregard the allegations. He argued that since the testimony of a woman could not be admitted in Rabbinical court, there were no valid witnesses against him, and hence, the case for his expulsion had to be thrown out for lack of evidence. In a ruling of importance for Orthodox women's capacity for legal self-protection under Jewish law, Haredi Rabbi Benzion Wosner, writing on behalf of the "Shevet Levi" Beit Din (Rabbinical court) of Monsey, New York, identified sexual harassment cases as coming under a class of exceptions to the traditional exclusion, under which "even children or women" have not only a right, but an obligation, to testify, and can be relied upon by a rabbinical court as valid witnesses:


title: Women in Judaism

text: The Rabbinical Council of America, while initially relying on its own investigation, chose to rely on the Halakhic ruling of the Haredi Rabbinical body as authoritative in the situation.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Leaders of the Haredi community have been steadfast in their opposition to a change in the role of women, arguing that the religious and social constraints on women, as dictated by traditional Jewish texts, are timeless, and are not affected by contemporary social change. Many also argue that giving traditionally male roles to women will only detract from both women's and men's ability to lead truly fulfilling lives. Haredim have also sometimes perceived arguments for liberalization as in reality stemming from antagonism to Jewish law and beliefs generally, arguing that preserving faith requires resisting secular and "un-Jewish" ideas.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Modern Orthodox Judaism, particularly in its more liberal variants, has tended to look at proposed changes in the role of women on a specific, case-by-case basis, focusing on arguments regarding the religious and legal role of specific prayers, rituals and activities individually. Such arguments have tended to focus on cases where the Talmud and other traditional sources express multiple or more liberal viewpoints, particularly where the role of women in the past was arguably broader than in more recent times. Feminist advocates within Orthodoxy have tended to stay within the traditional legal process of argumentation, seeking a gradualist approach, and avoiding wholesale arguments against the religious tradition as such. Nevertheless, a growing Orthodox feminist movement seeks to address gender inequalities.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Agunot (Hebrew: "chained women") are women who wish to divorce their husbands, but whose husbands refuse to give them a divorce contract (a "get"). The word can also refer to a woman whose husband disappeared and may or may not be dead. In Orthodox Judaism, only a man is able to serve a "get". In order to prevent the occurrence of the first type, many Jewish couples sign a prenuptial agreement designed to force the husband to serve a get or else be reported to the Jewish court.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Although the position of Conservative Judaism toward women originally differed little from the Orthodox position, it has in recent years minimized legal and ritual differences between men and women. The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards (CJLS) of the Rabbinical Assembly has approved a number of decisions and responsa on this topic. These provide for women's active participation in areas such as:


title: Women in Judaism

text: A rabbi may or may not decide to adopt particular rulings for the congregation; thus, some Conservative congregations will be more or less egalitarian than others. However, there are other areas where legal differences remain between men and women, including:


title: Women in Judaism

text: A Conservative Jewish "ketuba" includes a clause that puts a husband and wife on more equal footing when it comes to marriage and divorce law within "halacha".


title: Women in Judaism

text: The CJLS recently reaffirmed the obligation of Conservative women to observe "niddah" (sexual abstinence during and after menstruation) and "mikvah" (ritual immersion) following menstruation, although somewhat liberalizing certain details. Such practices, while requirements of Conservative Judaism, are not widely observed among Conservative laity.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Prior to 1973, Conservative Judaism had more limited roles for women and was more similar to current Orthodoxy. However, there were some notable changes in favor of expanded roles for women in Conservative Judaism prior to 1973. In 1946, the new Silverman siddur changed the traditional words of thanking God for "not making me a woman", instead using words thanking God for "making me a free person." In 1955, the CJLS of the Rabbinical Assembly issued a decision that allowed women to have an aliyah at Torah-readings services.


title: Women in Judaism

text: In 1973, the CJLS of the Rabbinical Assembly voted, without issuing an opinion, that women could count in a minyan.


title: Women in Judaism

text: There was a special commission appointed by the Conservative movement to study the issue of ordaining women as rabbis, which met between 1977 and 1978, and consisted of eleven men and three women; the women were Marian Siner Gordon, an attorney, Rivkah Harris, an Assyriologist, and Francine Klagsbrun, a writer. In 1983, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTSA) faculty voted, also without accompanying opinion, to ordain women as rabbis and as cantors. Paula Hyman, among others, took part in the vote as a member of the JTS faculty.


title: Women in Judaism

text: In 2002, the CJLS adapted a responsum by Rabbi David Fine, "Women and the Minyan", which provides an official religious-law foundation for women counting in a minyan and explains the current Conservative approach to the role of women in prayer. This responsum holds that although Jewish women do not traditionally have the same obligations as men, Conservative women have, as a collective whole, voluntarily undertaken them. Because of this collective undertaking, the Fine responsum holds that Conservative women are eligible to serve as agents and decision-makers for others. The responsum also holds that traditionally minded communities and individual women can opt out without being regarded by the Conservative movement as sinning. By adopting this responsum, the CJLS found itself in a position to provide a considered Jewish-law justification for its egalitarian practices, without having to rely on potentially unconvincing arguments, undermine the religious importance of community and clergy, ask individual women intrusive questions, repudiate the "halakhic" tradition, or label women following traditional practices as sinners.


title: Women in Judaism

text: In 2006, the CJLS adopted three responsa on the subject of niddah, which reaffirmed an obligation of Conservative women to abstain from sexual relations during and following menstruation and to immerse in a mikvah prior to resumption, while liberalizing observance requirements including shortening the length of the niddah period, lifting restrictions on non-sexual contact during niddah, and reducing the circumstances under which spotting and similar conditions would mandate abstinence.


title: Women in Judaism

text: In all cases, continuing the Orthodox approach was also upheld as an option. Individual Conservative rabbis and synagogues are not required to adopt any of these changes, and a small number have adopted none of them.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Prior to 1973, Conservative approaches to change were generally on an individual, case-by-case basis. Between 1973 and 2002, the Conservative movement adapted changes through its official organizations, but without issuing explanatory opinions. Since 2002, the Conservative movement has coalesced around a single across-the board approach to the role of women in Jewish law.


title: Women in Judaism

text: In 1973, 1983, and 1993, individual rabbis and professors issued six major opinions which influenced change in the Conservative approach, the first and second Sigal, Blumenthal, Rabinowitz, and Roth responsa, and the Hauptman article. These opinions sought to provide for a wholesale shift in women's public roles through a single, comprehensive legal justification. Most such opinions based their positions on an argument that Jewish women always were, or have become, legally obligated to perform the same "mitzvot" as men and to do so in the same manner.


title: Women in Judaism

text: The first Sigal and the Blumenthal responsa were considered by the CJLS as part of its decision on prayer roles in 1973. They argued that women have always had the same obligations as men. The first Sigal responsum used the Talmud's general prayer obligation and examples of cases in which women were traditionally obligated to say specific prayers and inferred from them a public prayer obligation identical to that of men. The Blumenthal responsum extrapolated from a minority authority that a "minyan" could be formed with nine men and one woman in an emergency. The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards (CJLS) declined to adopt either responsum. Rabbi Siegel reported to the Rabbinical Assembly membership that many on the CJLS, while agreeing with the result, found the arguments unconvincing.


title: Women in Judaism

text: The Rabinowitz, Roth, and second Sigal responsa were considered by the JTSA faculty as part of its decision to ordain women as rabbis in 1983. The Rabbinowitz responsum sidestepped the issue of obligation, arguing that there is no longer a religious need for a community representative in prayer and hence there is no need to decide whether a woman can "halakhically" serve as one. The CJLS felt that an argument potentially undermining the value of community and clergy was unconvincing: "We should not be afraid to recognize that the function of clergy is to help our people connect with the holy." The Roth and second Sigal responsa accepted that time-bound "mitzvot" were traditionally optional for women, but argued that women in modern times could change their traditional roles. The Roth responsum argued that women could individually voluntarily assume the same obligations as men, and that women who do so (e. g., pray three times a day regularly) could count in a "minyan" and serve as agents. The JTSA accordingly required female rabbinical students wishing to train as rabbis to personally obligate themselves, but synagogue rabbis, unwilling to inquire into individual religiosity, found it impractical. The second Sigal responsum called for a "takkanah", or rabbinical edict, "that would serve as a "halakhic" ERA", overruling all non-egalitarian provisions in law or, in the alternative, a new approach to "halakhic" interpretation independent of legal precedents. The CJLS, unwilling to use either an intrusive approach or a repudiation of the traditional legal process as bases for action, did not adopt either and let the JTS faculty vote stand unexplained.


title: Women in Judaism

text: In 1993, Professor Judith Hauptman of JTS issued an influential paper arguing that women had historically always been obligated in prayer, using more detailed arguments than the Blumenthal and first Sigal responsa. The paper suggested that women who followed traditional practices were failing to meet their obligations. Rabbi Roth argued that Conservative Judaism should think twice before adopting a viewpoint labeling its most traditional and often most committed members as sinners. The issue was again dropped.


title: Women in Judaism

text: In 2002, the CJLS returned to the issue of justifying its actions regarding women's status, and adopted a single authoritative approach, the Fine responsum, as the definitive Conservative halakha on role-of-women issues. This responsum holds that although Jewish women do not traditionally have the same obligations as men, Conservative women have, as a collective whole, voluntarily undertaken them. Because of this collective undertaking, the Fine responsum holds that Conservative women are eligible to serve as agents and decision-makers for others. The Responsum also holds that traditionally minded communities and individual women can opt out without being regarded by the Conservative movement as sinning. By adopting this Responsum, the CJLS found itself in a position to provide a considered Jewish-law justification for its egalitarian practices, without having to rely on potentially unconvincing arguments, undermine the religious importance of community and clergy, ask individual women intrusive questions, repudiate the "halakhic" tradition, or label women following traditional practices as sinners.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Reform Judaism believes in the equality of men and women. The Reform movement rejects the idea that halakha (Jewish law) is the sole legitimate form of Jewish decision making, and holds that Jews can and must consider their conscience and ethical principles inherent in the Jewish tradition when deciding upon a right course of action. There is widespread consensus among Reform Jews that traditional distinctions between the role of men and women are antithetical to the deeper ethical principles of Judaism. This has enabled Reform communities to allow women to perform many rituals traditionally reserved for men, such as:


title: Women in Judaism

text: Concerns about intermarriage have also influenced the Reform Jewish position on gender. In 1983, the Central Conference of American Rabbis passed a resolution waiving the need for formal conversion for anyone with at least one Jewish parent who has made affirmative acts of Jewish identity. This departed from the traditional position requiring formal conversion to Judaism for children without a Jewish mother. The 1983 resolution of the American Reform movement has had a mixed reception in Reform Jewish communities outside of the United States. Most notably, the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism has rejected patrilineal descent and requires formal conversion for anyone without a Jewish mother. As well, a joint Orthodox, Traditional, Conservative and Reform Bet Din formed in Denver, Colorado to promote uniform standards for conversion to Judaism was dissolved in 1983, due to that Reform resolution. However, in 2015 the majority of Britain's Assembly of Reform Rabbis voted in favor of a position paper proposing "that individuals who live a Jewish life, and who are patrilineally Jewish, can be welcomed into the Jewish community and confirmed as Jewish through an individual process". Britain's Assembly of Reform Rabbis stated that rabbis "would be able to take local decisions – ratified by the Beit Din – confirming Jewish status".


title: Women in Judaism

text: Liberal prayerbooks tend increasingly to avoid male-specific words and pronouns, seeking that all references to God in translations be made in gender-neutral language. For example, the UK Liberal movement's "Siddur Lev Chadash" (1995) does so, as does the UK Reform Movement's "Forms of Prayer" (2008). In Mishkan T'filah, the American Reform Jewish prayer book released in 2007, references to God as "He" have been removed, and whenever Jewish patriarchs are named (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), so also are the matriarchs (Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah.) In 2015 the Reform Jewish High Holy Days prayer book Mishkan HaNefesh was released; it is intended as a companion to Mishkan T'filah. It includes a version of the High Holy Days prayer Avinu Malkeinu that refers to God as both "Loving Father" and "Compassionate Mother". Other notable changes are replacing a line from the Reform movement's earlier prayerbook, "Gates of Repentance", that mentioned the joy of a bride and groom specifically, with the line "rejoicing with couples under the chuppah [wedding canopy]", and adding a third, non-gendered option to the way worshippers are called to the Torah, offering "mibeit", Hebrew for "from the house of", in addition to the traditional "son of" or "daughter of".


title: Women in Judaism

text: In 2008, Stacy Offner became the first female vice president of the Union for Reform Judaism, a position she held for two years. In 2015, Daryl Messinger became the first female chair of the Union.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Reform Judaism generally holds that the various differences between the roles of men and women in traditional Jewish law are not relevant to modern conditions and not applicable today. Accordingly, there has been no need to develop legal arguments analogous to those made within the Orthodox and Conservative movements.


title: Women in Judaism

text: The equality of women and men is a central tenet and hallmark of Reconstructionist Judaism. From the beginning, Reconstructionist Jewish ritual allowed men and women to pray together—a decision based on egalitarian philosophy. It was on this basis that Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan called for the full equality of women and men, despite the obvious difficulties reconciling this stance with norms of traditional Jewish practice. The Reconstructionist Movement ordained women rabbis from the start. In 1968, women were accepted into the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, under the leadership of Ira Eisenstein. The first ordained female Reconstructionist rabbi, Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, served as rabbi of the Manhattan Reconstructionist Congregation in 1976, and gained a pulpit in 1977 at Beth El Zedeck congregation in Indianapolis. Sandy Eisenberg Sasso was accepted without debate or subsequent controversy. In 2005, 24 out of the movement's 106 synagogues in the US had women as senior or assistant rabbis. In 2013 Rabbi Deborah Waxman was elected as the President of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. As the President, she is believed to be the first woman and first lesbian to lead a Jewish congregational union, and the first female rabbi and first lesbian to lead a Jewish seminary; the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College is both a congregational union and a seminary.


title: Women in Judaism

text: The Reconstructionist Community began including women in the minyan and allowing them to come up to the Torah for aliyot. They also continued the practice of bat mitzvah. Reconstructionist Judaism also allowed women to perform other traditional male tasks, such as serving as witnesses, leading services, public Torah reading, and wearing ritual prayer garments like kippot and tallitot. Female Reconstructionist rabbis have been instrumental in the creation of rituals, stories, and music that have begun to give women's experience a voice in Judaism. Most of the focus has been on rituals for life-cycle events. New ceremonies have been created for births, weddings, divorces, conversions, weaning, and the onset of menarche and menopause. The Reconstructionist movement as a whole has been committed to creating liturgy that is in consonance with gender equality and the celebration of women's lives. Another major step: The Federation of Reconstructionist Congregations has also developed educational programs that teach the full acceptance of lesbians, as well as rituals that affirm lesbian relationships. Reconstructionist rabbis officiate at same-sex weddings. Reconstructionist Judaism also allows openly LGBT men and women to be ordained as rabbis and cantors.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Several prominent members of the Reconstructionist community have focused on issues like domestic violence. Others have devoted energy to helping women gain the right of divorce in traditional Jewish communities. Many have spoken out for the right of Jewish women to pray aloud and read from the Torah at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, particularly members of the Women of the Wall group.


title: Women in Judaism

text: When the roles of women in religion change, there may also be changed roles for men. With their acceptance of patrilineal descent in 1979, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association supported the principle that a man can pass Judaism on to the next generation as well as a woman.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Jewish Renewal is a recent movement in Judaism which endeavors to reinvigorate modern Judaism with Kabbalistic, Hasidic, musical and meditative practices; it describes itself as "a worldwide, transdenominational movement grounded in Judaism's prophetic and mystical traditions". The Jewish Renewal movement ordains women as well as men as rabbis and cantors. Lynn Gottlieb became the first female rabbi in Jewish Renewal in 1981, and Avitall Gerstetter, who lives in Germany, became the first female cantor in Jewish Renewal (and the first female cantor in Germany) in 2002. In 2009 and 2012 respectively, OHALAH (Association of Rabbis for Jewish Renewal) issued a board statement and a resolution supporting Women of the Wall. The Statement of Principles of OHALAH states in part, "Our local communities will embody egalitarian and inclusive values, manifested in a variety of leadership and decision-making structures, ensuring that women and men are full and equal partners in every aspect of our communal Jewish life." In 2014 OHALAH issued a board resolution stating in part, "Therefore, be it resolved that: OHALAH supports the observance of Women's History Month, International Women's Day, and Women's Equality Day; OHALAH condemns all types of sexism; OHALAH is committed to gender equality, now and in all generations to come; and OHALAH supports equal rights regardless of gender." Also in 2014, ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal issued a statement stating, "ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal supports the observance of Women's History Month, International Women's Day, and Women's Equality Day, condemns all types of sexism, is committed to gender equality, now and in all generations to come, and supports equal rights regardless of gender, in recognition and allegiance to the view that we are all equally created in the Divine Image."


title: Women in Judaism

text: Humanistic Judaism is a movement in Judaism that offers a non-theistic alternative in contemporary Jewish life. It ordains both men and women as rabbis, and its first rabbi was a woman, Tamara Kolton, who was ordained in 1999. Its first cantor was also a woman, Deborah Davis, ordained in 2001; however, Humanistic Judaism has since stopped ordaining cantors. The Society for Humanistic Judaism issued a statement in 1996 stating in part, "We affirm that a woman has the moral right and should have the continuing legal right to decide whether or not to terminate a pregnancy in accordance with her own ethical standards. Because a decision to terminate a pregnancy carries serious, irreversible consequences, it is one to be made with great care and with keen awareness of the complex psychological, emotional, and ethical implications." They also issued a statement in 2011 condemning the then-recent passage of the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act" by the U.S. House of Representatives, which they called "a direct attack on a women's right to choose". In 2012, they issued a resolution opposing conscience clauses that allow religious-affiliated institutions to be exempt from generally applicable requirements mandating reproductive healthcare services to individuals or employees. In 2013 they issued a resolution stating in part, "Therefore, be it resolved that: The Society for Humanistic Judaism wholeheartedly supports the observance of Women's Equality Day on August 26 to commemorate the anniversary of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution allowing women to vote; The Society condemns gender discrimination in all its forms, including restriction of rights, limited access to education, violence, and subjugation; and The Society commits itself to maintain vigilance and speak out in the fight to bring gender equality to our generation and to the generations that follow."


title: Women in Judaism

text: Sofrot is the feminine plural of Sofer. A Sopher, Sopher, Sofer STaM, or Sofer ST"M (Heb: "scribe", סופר סת״ם) is a Jewish scribe who is able and entitled to transcribe Torah scrolls, tefillin and mezuzot, and other religious writings. (ST"M, סת״ם, is an abbreviation for Sefer Torahs, Tefillin, and Mezuzot. The masculine plural of sofer is "sofrim" סופרים).


title: Women in Judaism

text: Forming the basis for the discussion of women becoming sofrot, Talmud Gittin 45b states: "Sifrei Torah, tefillin, and mezuzot written by a heretic, a star-worshipper, a slave, a woman, a minor, a Cuthean, or an apostate Jew, are unfit for ritual use." The rulings on Mezuzah and Tefillin are virtually undisputed among those who hold to the Talmudic Law. As Arba'ah Turim does not include women in its list of those ineligible to write Sifrei Torah, some see this as proof that women are permitted to write a Torah scroll. However today, virtually all Orthodox (both Modern and Ultra) authorities contest the idea that a woman is permitted to write a Sefer Torah. Yet women are permitted to inscribe Ketubot (marriage contracts), STaM not intended for ritual use, and other writings of Sofrut beyond simple STaM. In 2003, Canadian Aviel Barclay became the world's first known traditionally trained female sofer. In 2007 Jen Taylor Friedman, a British woman, became the first female sofer to scribe a Sefer Torah. In 2010 the first Sefer Torah scribed by a group of women (six female sofers, who were from Brazil, Canada, Israel, and the United States) was completed; this was known as the Women's Torah Project. Also, not just any man may write a Sefer Torah; they should ideally be written by a "G-d-fearing person" who knows at least the first layer of meanings, some of them hidden, in the Torah.


title: Women in Judaism

text: From October 2010 until spring 2011, Julie Seltzer, one of the female sofers from the Women's Torah Project, scribed a Sefer Torah as part of an exhibition at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. This makes her the first American female sofer to scribe a Sefer Torah; Julie Seltzer was born in Philadelphia and is non-denominationally Jewish. From spring 2011 until August 2012 she scribed another Sefer Torah, this time for the Reform congregation Beth Israel in San Diego. Seltzer was taught mostly by Jen Taylor Friedman. On September 22, 2013, Congregation Beth Elohim of New York dedicated a new Torah, which members of Beth Elohim said was the first Torah in New York City to be completed by a woman. The Torah was scribed by Linda Coppleson. As of 2014, there are an estimated 50 female sofers in the world.


title: Hand luggage

text: The term hand luggage or cabin baggage (normally called carry-on in North America) refers to the type of luggage that passengers are allowed to carry along in the passenger compartment of a vehicle instead of a separate cargo compartment. Passengers are allowed to carry a limited number of smaller bags with them in the vehicle, which typically contain valuables and items needed during the journey. There is normally storage space provided for hand luggage, either under seating, or in overhead lockers. Trains usually have luggage racks above the seats and may also (especially in the case of trains travelling longer distances) have luggage space between the backs of seats facing opposite directions, or in extra luggage racks, for example, at the ends of the carriage (train car in American English) near the doors.


title: Hand luggage

text: Hand baggage allowance is a topic frequently discussed in the context of commercial air travel. On the one hand, passengers may want to have more of their possessions at hand during flight, skip the often time-consuming baggage claim process, and avoid the risk of having their checked baggage lost or damaged. On the other hand, safety concerns, takeoff weight limitations, and financial incentives (e.g. charging for checked bags) cause airlines to impose limits on how much and what passengers can take into the aircraft cabin. A large amount of hand luggage also slows the security screening of passengers, and can slow boarding as it takes longer to find space in cabin storage areas.


title: Hand luggage

text: Studies have found that passengers often pause to retrieve cabin baggage during an emergency evacuation, despite instructions to the contrary in pre-flight safety briefings. This is not a new phenomenon, as it was observed during the evacuation of a Boeing 737 that caught fire in 1984. At least one passenger re-entered a Boeing 777 that crashed in 2008 to retrieve personal belongings. Video of the evacuation of a Sukhoi Superjet that caught fire on landing in 2019 clearly shows passengers on the emergency slides with large suitcases, raising questions as to whether this contributed to the loss of life. Remote locking of overhead baggage bins is being considered as a solution to the issue.


title: Hand luggage

text: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) sets guidelines for cabin baggage/hand luggage/carry-on luggage size. As of 2022, the IATA recommends a maximum size of 56 cm × 45 cm × 25 cm (22 in × 18 in × 10 in), including protuberances like wheels, handles, and pockets.


title: Hand luggage

text: The IATA guidelines are voluntary; the actual size and weight limits of cabin baggage imposed by airlines differ widely. In some cases they are dependent on the aircraft model being used, in other cases it depends on the booking class.


title: Hand luggage

text: Dimensions are sometimes listed as "linear", meaning that when added together, height, width, and length are not to exceed a certain total number.


title: Hand luggage

text: Business class, first class passengers and holders of high level mileage club members are often allowed to carry on a second bag of a similar or smaller size and weight.


title: Hand luggage

text: On smaller sized aircraft, sometimes the hand baggage can be carried to the aircraft door, where it is collected by baggage handlers for stowing in the cargo area and returned to the passenger right after landing.


title: Hand luggage

text: Following the increase in restrictions imposed on flights from UK airports and to the US after the events of August 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot, hand baggage on such flights was restricted to one cabin bag no bigger than 45 cm × 35 cm × 16 cm (17¾" x 13¾" x 6¼") effective since 15 August 2006. On 21 September 2006, the British Airports Authority advised that from the following day, the allowable size of the single item of hand baggage on outgoing flights from the UK would be increased to 56 cm × 45 cm × 25 cm (approx. 22 in × 17.75 in × 9.85 in), the IATA guideline size. Most UK airports still have a strict limit of one piece of cabin baggage per passenger, including business class.


title: Hand luggage

text: A common regulation for cabin baggage restrictions was introduced on 6 November 2006 in European Union and in Switzerland, Norway and Iceland.


title: Hand luggage

text: The United States Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has introduced a series of restrictions effective since 26 September 2006 under the name "3:1:1" for liquids.


title: Hand luggage

text: The TSA has additional restrictions for security searches: for example, the baggage should not be locked (except with a special luggage locks that TSA staff can open), gifts should not be wrapped, and shoes may be required to be taken off during body search with the metal detector. Food items in the luggage may be mistaken for dangerous material triggering an intensive search.


title: Yū Kobayashi

text: Before venturing as a voice actress, Kobayashi worked as a model for magazines. In 2003, she auditioned for the role of Setsuna Sakurazaki in "Negima! Magister Negi Magi", beginning her career as a voice actress. In 2007, she made her debut as a singer with the single "Sora no Kotoba", which was the second closing theme of the Saint October anime. In 2008, she was nominated for "Best New Actress" at the second edition of the Seiyū Awards. Also in that same year, she released her first album "YOU&YU" and her first mini-album, "ROCK YOU!!". Later, in 2010, she created the musical group Crush Tears.


title: Yū Kobayashi

text: On August 1, 2012, Rakugo CD "Moouchi!" is released. On December 29, 2017, she announced her marriage on her Twitter account.


title: Thomas Pitera

text: Thomas Pitera (; born December 2, 1954) is an American mobster in the Bonanno crime family. Pitera, a soldier and later on a captain of his own crew, was suspected by law enforcement of as many as 60 murders. Pitera was well known for his use of karate and other martial arts when fighting, a skill he had learned at a young age and which earned him nicknames like "Tommy Karate", and "The Karate Guy". Pitera is serving a life sentence at USP McCreary in McCreary County, Kentucky.


title: Thomas Pitera

text: Thomas Pitera grew up in the Gravesend neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Joseph "Joe" Pitera, an Italian-American from Campagna in Province of Salerno, and Catherine Bugowski, of German and Polish descent from Rhineland-Palatinate. His father was an independent concession stand wholesale candy salesman who sold Mary Jane, Pixy Stix, Ferrara Candy Company's Red Hots, lemon drops and Bazooka chewing gum.


title: Thomas Pitera

text: Pitera attended the David A. Boody Junior High School at 228 Avenue S in Gravesend, where he left little impression with his teachers, daydreamed a lot and was bullied by his peers because of his high-pitched voice. Before he became interested in martial arts he wanted to become involved in professional baseball but was too ostracized by fellow students to join the varsity baseball team. He would later break into Boody and steal the school baseball team's equipment as an act of revenge and sold it to "fences" in the neighborhood. He was later arrested and charged for the burglary but he was convicted as a juvenile and his record was sealed. He attended a Dojo in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn and quickly rose to the top of his class. He had a daily regimen of working out, lifting weights, reading about Kyokushin fighting strategies and tactics and watching violent films, mostly kung fu films.


title: Thomas Pitera

text: At the age of 12, Pitera had been a huge fan of the 1966 "The Green Hornet" television show and actor Bruce Lee starring alongside Van Williams, triggering his lifelong interest in martial arts. It was later solidified in 1969 with the release of the film "Marlowe" starring James Garner and Lee as "Lee Wong". He let his thick, straight, black hair grow down past his ears despite disapproval by his parents for not wanting him to look like a "hippie", started eating sushi as a regular part of his diet and immersed himself in Eastern philosophy. After winning an arduous kumite competition in Sheepshead Bay, Pitera spent 27 months in Tokyo, Japan training assiduously under the revered Japanese martial arts Shihan Hiroshi Masumi in the ways of the Ko-ryū Ninjutsu. While there he ate mostly fish, rice and edible seaweed and read books about war and fighting becoming a martial artist and academic on the subject. He began to think of himself as invincible. His mother and aunt Angelina Bugowski went to visit him and were impressed with the change to his physical appearance, maturity, sensibility and understanding of the Japanese culture and people. He was trained to use the tonfa, nunchucks and katanas. While in Japan, he grew his hair down to his shoulders to adopt the Bruce Lee image. After his scholarship ended, he sought work in a chopsticks factory to underwrite his stay and earn more money. This led him to acquire the nickname "Tommy Karate" by friends and fellow mobsters, despite that he specialized in Togakure-ryū and not karate.


title: Thomas Pitera

text: Upon returning to Brooklyn, Pitera joined the Bonanno crime family and quickly became one of their most feared soldiers. He belonged to a Bonanno faction headed by "caporegimes" Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato, Frank Lino, Dominick Trinchera and Philip Giaccone. This group opposed the current leadership under boss Philip Rastelli and his leading "capos" Joseph Massino and Dominick Napolitano. In 1981, Massino and Napolitano set up the murders of the three rival "capos" in a Gravesend club co-owned by Sammy Gravano. After their deaths, Massino made peace with the rest of the leaderless faction, including Pitera. During the 1980s, Pitera became a "made man" of the Bonanno family and was assigned to Lino's crew by Bonanno "consigliere" Anthony Spero.


title: Thomas Pitera

text: On August 29, 1988, Pitera allegedly ambushed and murdered Wilfred "Willie Boy" Johnson as he walked ahead to their car. Johnson had been a longtime associate and driver for Gambino family boss John Gotti. The hit was reportedly delegated to Pitera and fellow gunman Vincent "Kojak" Giattino after Gotti had discovered that Johnson had been a government informant since 1966. Pitera was charged with the Johnson murder but acquitted at trial.


title: Thomas Pitera

text: Pitera was close to Spero, whose Bath Beach crew were involved in extortion, loan sharking, drug dealing and murder, as well as robbing drug dealers and then reselling their product. Pitera's associates, Lloyd Modell and Frank Martini, murdered two Colombian dealers and stole sixteen kilograms of cocaine. The killers intended to drive their car to Staten Island to bury the bodies, but as they could not drive a stick shift, they left the car with the bodies inside the trunk in a Brooklyn parking garage. Modell used one of Pitera's guns in the murder and threw it in the harbor, angering him.


title: Thomas Pitera

text: Pitera killed Tala Siksik, a Middle Eastern drug supplier, in his Brooklyn apartment. Pitera shot Siksik four times in the back, chopped the body up into six pieces, and then buried it at a secret dumping ground. Investigators eventually found six of Pitera's victims in a mob graveyard in Staten Island near the William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge. Pitera had decapitated the bodies and buried the heads separately to impede their identification using dental records.


title: Thomas Pitera

text: Pitera's approach to murder and body disposal was cold-hearted and clinical. He used the Staten Island graveyard because he believed that the damp soil would accelerate decomposition and the wildlife refuge would ensure the bodies were not discovered during construction projects. Pitera studied books on dissection and carried a special tool kit for cutting up bodies. He always insisted on burying corpses deep enough so that police dogs could not locate their scents. Before burying body parts, he either wrapped them in plastic or placed them in suitcases. Pitera's weakness was that he enjoyed keeping jewelry and other souvenirs of his work.


title: Thomas Pitera

text: On June 4, 1990, Pitera was indicted for heading a drug dealing crew and for his involvement in seven murders, including the 1988 Johnson murder. Investigators alleged that Pitera had been involved in as many as sixty murders. Pitera's crew sold about 220 pounds of cocaine per year, multiple kilos of heroin and hundreds of pounds of marijuana. FBI agents discovered more than sixty automatic weapons, knives, swords, and literature such as "The Hitman's Handbook" and "Kill or Be Killed", which dealt primarily with assassination techniques as well as torture and the dismemberment of cadavers, in Pitera's apartment in Gravesend.


title: Thomas Pitera

text: One of Pitera's crew members, Frank Gangi, the nephew of Genovese family "capo" Rosario Gangi, decided to testify against Pitera. Frank had been arrested for driving under the influence and allegedly started reliving Pitera's worst atrocities in his mind while sitting in the holding cell. Frank confessed to all the murders he was involved in with Pitera, and provided information on other Pitera murders. He described how Pitera matter-of-factly murdered Gangi's girlfriend Phyllis Burdi while she was passed out in bed after sharing cocaine and sex with Gangi. Pitera then cut Burdi's corpse into six pieces in the bathroom. Gangi also testified that during a fight with a drug dealer named Marek Kucharsky, Pitera pulled a knife and repeatedly stabbed Kucharsky and finally cut his throat.


title: Thomas Pitera

text: In Pitera's trial, the chief prosecutor, David W. Shapiro, demanded the death sentence for the "heinous, cruel and depraved" murders committed by Pitera. He called Pitera a "heartless and ruthless killer," explaining in detail how Pitera tortured one victim by slowly, deliberately shooting him seven times in various parts of the body, in one of a series of murders carried out in a deliberately barbaric manner. The prosecution also produced a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent who testified to digging up graves containing the dismembered bodies of some of Pitera's victims.


title: Thomas Pitera

text: Pitera's defense lawyer, David A. Ruhnke, urged the jury to reject the death penalty on the grounds that Pitera had no prior criminal record and that other participants in the murders were allowed to plead guilty to lesser charges. Moreover, only two of the murder victims, Richard Leone and Solomon Stern, were killed on March 15, 1989, after the Federal death penalty law went into effect. The four other murders took place earlier, so those counts carried maximum sentences of life in prison. Pitera's aunt, sister-in-law and two cousins testified on Pitera's defense that he was a loving and caring family member.


title: Thomas Pitera

text: On June 25, 1992, Pitera was convicted of murdering six people and supervising a massive drug dealing operation in Brooklyn. However, Pitera was acquitted in the 1988 Johnson murder. During the deliberation on sentencing, the jury rejected the death penalty for Pitera. In October 1992, alluding to evidence that Pitera brutally killed his victims and dismembered their bodies, Judge Reena Raggi sentenced him to life in prison, saying, "Mr. Pitera, nobody deserves to die as these people died."


title: Thomas Pitera

text: After the verdict was read, Pitera smiled and gave a thumbs up to reporters sitting in the Brooklyn courtroom; he had avoided the death penalty. However, Pitera was irritated that Gangi was petitioning Judge Raggi for a reduction of his 10-year prison sentence. As Pitera later remarked,


title: Thomas Pitera

text: Gangi said he was sorry about killing five people and that he became an informer because he wanted to start a new life. He gets 10 years, a good deal, and he goes whimpering and weeping to the judge looking for a break. If you're really sorry for killing five people, you take your punishment like a man.


title: Thomas Pitera

text: Later in 1992, Judge Raggi again refused a motion to reduce Gangi's sentence. On April 3, 2012, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals denied Pitera's motion for DNA testing of the guns and other evidence in three of Pitera's murders. As of April 2017, Pitera is serving a life sentence at the United States Penitentiary, McCreary near Pine Knot, Kentucky. Pitera's inmate number is 29465-053.


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: Edgar Miles Bronfman (born June 20, 1929 – December 21, 2013) was a Canadian-American businessman. He worked for his family's distilled beverage firm, Seagram, eventually becoming president, treasurer and CEO. As president of the World Jewish Congress, Bronfman is especially remembered for initiating diplomacy with the Soviet Union, which resulted in legitimizing the Hebrew language in the USSR, and contributed to Soviet Jews being legally able to practice their own religion, as well as immigrate to Israel.


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: Bronfman was born into the Jewish-Canadian Bronfman family in Montreal, the son of Samuel Bronfman, a Russian who had emigrated to Canada with his parents, and Saidye Rosner Bronfman, a native of Manitoba born to Eastern European immigrants. They raised their four children in Montreal.


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: In 1925, Sam and his brother, Allan, built the family's first liquor distillery near Montreal. They later bought a distillery owned by the Seagram family and incorporated the name. The U.S. subsidiary of the Seagram Company Ltd. opened in 1933; Edgar Bronfman would later take charge of the subsidiary.


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: Bronfman had two older sisters: architect Phyllis Lambert, and Minda de Gunzburg, who married Baron Alain de Gunzburg (1925–2004), a great grandson of Joseph Günzburg. Bronfman also had a younger brother, Charles Bronfman. The Bronfmans "kept a kosher home, and the children received religious schooling on weekends. During the week, Edgar and his younger brother, Charles, were among a handful of Jews sent to private Anglophone schools, where they attended chapel and ate pork."


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: Bronfman attended Selwyn House School in Montreal, and Trinity College School in Port Hope, Ontario, Canada. He next attended Williams College, then transferred to McGill University, where he graduated in 1951 with a bachelor's degree in commerce.


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: After graduating from McGill University with a B.A. degree, in 1951, he joined the family business, where he worked as an accounting clerk and apprentice taster. In 1953, he took over as head of the Seagram U.S. subsidiary, Joseph E. Seagram & Sons. He increased the range of products sold by the company, improved distribution, and expanded the number of countries in which Seagram's products were sold. In 1966, Cemp Investments, which managed the family's investments, bought 820,000 shares of MGM and, in 1969, Bronfman took over the chairmanship of MGM, albeit briefly.


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: Following his father's death, in 1971, Bronfman took over as president, treasurer and director of Distillers Corporation-Seagram Ltd. His son, Edgar Jr., succeeded him as chief executive officer of the company in 1994.


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: When former World Jewish Congress president Philip Klutznick stepped down in 1979, Bronfman was asked to take over as acting head of the organization, then was formally elected president by the Seventh Plenary Assembly, in January 1981. Together with his deputy, Israel Singer, Bronfman led the World Jewish Congress. Initiatives such as those seeking to help free Soviet Jewry; to expose Austrian president Kurt Waldheim's Nazi past; and to help victims of the Holocaust and their heirs to acquire compensation (including by Swiss banks) raised Bronfman's international profile during the 1980s and 1990s.


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: In 1983, Bronfman suggested that "American Jews should abandon their strongest weapon, the Jackson–Vanik amendment, as a sign of goodwill that challenges the Soviets to respond in kind."


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: After Mikhail Gorbachev's ascension in 1985, Bronfman's "New York Times" message began to resonate with the public. In early 1985, Bronfman secured an invitation to the Kremlin and on September 8–11, visited Moscow, becoming the first World Jewish Congress President to be formally received in Moscow by Soviet Officials. Carrying a note from Shimon Peres, Bronfman met with Gorbachev, and initiated talks of a Soviet Jewish airlift. It is said that Peres' note called on the Soviet Union to resume diplomatic relations with Israel.


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: In a "Washington Post" profile a few months after the September trip, Bronfman laid out what he thought had been accomplished during his September meetings. He said, "There's going to be a buildup of pressure through the business community. The Russians know the Soviet Jewry issue is tied to trade ... My guess is that over a period of time, five to ten years, some of our goals will be achieved." Author Gal Beckerman says in his "When They Come For Us We'll Be Gone", "Bronfman had a business man's understanding of the Soviet Jewish issue. It was all a matter of negotiation, of calculating what the Russians really wanted and leveraging that against emigration."


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: In March 1987, Bronfman, along with fellow delegates of the World Jewish Congress, flew to Moscow once again. Bronfman held three days of discussions with senior Soviet officials. Together, Bronfman and the World Jewish Congress delegates advocated for the freeing of the Jews living under Soviet rule.


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: On June 25, 1982, Bronfman became the first representative of a Jewish organization to speak before the United Nations. Speaking before the Special Session on Disarmament, Bronfman said, "world peace cannot tolerate the denial of the legitimacy of Israel or any other nation-state ... [and the] charge that Zionism is racism is an abomination."


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: Bronfman's goals for the visit were threefold. In his book, "The Making of a Jew," he explained: first, he called for the release of all so-called Prisoners of Zion, the Jews imprisoned for expressing a desire to emigrate to Israel. Bronfman also wanted freedom for Jews in the Soviet Union to practice their religion. Finally, he called for the freedom for Soviet Jews to learn Hebrew, which was forbidden at the time.


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: A year later, in 1988, Bronfman returned to Moscow to meet with Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze. This trip resulted in the Soviets promising to legalize the teaching of Hebrew in the Soviet Union and to establish a Jewish cultural center in Moscow. Bronfman said of this visit, "By their actions, they are indicating that they are eager to get the question of Jewish rights and emigration off the bargaining table. And it is actions, rather than simply words, that count."


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: In 1986, during Bronfman's presidency, the World Jewish Congress accused Austrian president Kurt Waldheim of covering up his past connections to the Nazi Party. It was when Waldheim became a candidate for president of Austria that the World Jewish Congress first published material showing Waldheim's active duty in the German army during wartime. This evidence was later used to prove that Waldheim must have known about the deportation of Jews to concentration camps, though Waldheim's service as an Austrian in the German army cannot itself be considered a war crime. Waldheim had served as an intelligence officer in a unit of the army that participated in the transfer of Greek Jews to death camps. The allegations against Waldheim resulted in public embarrassment for the then-Austrian president.


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: On May 5, 1987, Bronfman spoke to the World Jewish Congress saying Waldheim was "part and parcel of the Nazi killing machine". Waldheim subsequently filed a lawsuit against Bronfman, but dropped the suit shortly after, due to a lack of evidence in his favor.


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: According to Joel Bainerman, in 1991 he was appointed to the International Jewish Committee for Inter-religious Consultations to conduct official contacts between the Vatican and the State of Israel.


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: In the late 1990s, Bronfman championed the cause of restitution from Switzerland for Holocaust survivors. Bronfman began an initiative that led to a $1.25 billion settlement from Swiss banks. This settlement aimed to resolve claims "that they hoarded bank accounts opened by Jews who were murdered by the Nazis". The Swiss banks, the United States Government, and Jewish groups investigated unclaimed assets deposited by European Jews into Swiss banks before the Holocaust. Negotiations began in 1995 between the U.S. and Switzerland. The parties reached a settlement in August 1998, and signed the $1.25 billion settlement in January 1999. In exchange for the settlement money, both parties agreed to release the Swiss banks and government from any claims regarding the Holocaust. The settlement was officially approved on November 22, 2000, by Judge Edward R. Korman.


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: Bronfman was accused by another WJC official of "perfidy" when he wrote a letter to President Bush in mid-2003 urging Bush to pressure Israel to curb construction of its controversial West Bank separation barrier, co-signed by former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger. Former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres said in support of Bronfman, "Clearly, issues that are open for debate in Israel should be open for debate in the Jewish world."


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: Bronfman stepped down from his post as president on May 7, 2007, amid scandals and turmoil about Israel Singer. Bronfman's leadership is known for transforming the World Jewish Congress into the powerful organization it is today. As president, Bronfman is remembered most for his diplomacy with the Soviet Union in freeing Soviet Jews.


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: At his memorial held in January 2014, Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said of Bronfman, "Edgar was never shy of pressing an issue in the face of injustice," as she spoke about the many causes he championed in his lifetime.


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: In 2003, a "Forbes" magazine article reported that Bronfman took a course from NXIVM under the leadership of Keith Raniere, endorsing it, but had since "grown troubled" due to the "emotional and financial investment" daughters Clare and Sara were giving to Raniere's group, remarking that Clare had loaned NXIVM $2 million, though she denied this. Bronfman was quoted stating, "I think it's a cult." In 2018, Raniere, then daughter Clare and her long-time mentor NXIVM president Nancy Salzman, among others, were arrested on federal charges in connection with NXIVM. In September 2018, daughter Sara was named the defendant in a 2018 class-action suit regarding her NXIVM activities.


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: Bronfman died on December 21, 2013, at his home in Manhattan. He was 84. Bronfman was survived by his widow, Aronson, seven children, 24 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren at the time of his death.


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: Bronfman was a philanthropist who gave large amounts of money to Jewish causes, including , which he was credited with helping revive together with Hillel president Richard Joel in the 1990s. The Hillel at New York University is called The Edgar M. Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life, known by students just as "Bronfman". Bronfman established the Bronfman Youth Fellowships in Israel, a leadership program for Jewish youth, and provided the funding for MyJewishLearning.com, a digital media entity that includes Kveller, a popular Jewish parenting site.


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: His mother has a concert hall named after her in Montreal, the Saidye Bronfman Centre, and a building at McGill University is named after his father.


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: Bronfman was also the founder and president of The Samuel Bronfman Foundation, whose work is informed by these four principles: "Jewish renaissance is grounded in Jewish learning, Jewish youth shape the future of the Jewish people, vibrant Jewish communities are open and inclusive, and that all Jews are a single family."


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: Major points of focus for The Samuel Bronfman Foundation are pluralism, intermarriage, community engagement – especially youth – and making Jewish knowledge accessible to Jews of all backgrounds. It is known for its work with the following grantees:


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: In April 2012, Bronfman joined the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Giving Pledge, a long-term charitable initiative that aims to inspire conversations about philanthropy and increase charitable giving in the United States. Bronfman and 12 others joined the 68 billionaires who had already signed the giving pledge.


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: Following his death in 2013, Jewish news outlets called Bronfman a "prince of his people," for his unique combination of lineage, intrigue, and devotion to the Jewish people through learning and philanthropy. Through his Jewish philanthropy, Bronfman became known for his unique approach to Jewish life. A proud Jew who publicly stated his disbelief in God, Bronfman developed his own understanding of Judaism, as he learned Jewish texts and traditions both in his personal life and in his work at The Samuel Bronfman Foundation. In an article, journalist Ami Eden writes about Bronfman, who chose to incorporate meaningful Jewish traditions into his life, all the while continuing to educate himself about the religion until his final days.


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: Bronfman also promoted the idea that Jewish organizations needed to stop using fear as a selling point, but rather encourage ordinary Jews to take a deeper interest in the substantive heritage they have been born into. Specifically, while much of the American Jewish community saw intermarriage as an epidemic to be curbed, Bronfman considered the trend an opportunity for Jews to learn further with their non-Jewish partners.


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: In 1986 Bronfman was honored with the Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honour), from the Government of France. He was honored with the Star of People's Friendship by East German leader Erich Honecker in 1988. Bronfman was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by U.S. president Bill Clinton in 1999.


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: In 2000, he received the Leo Baeck Medal for his humanitarian work promoting tolerance and social justice. In 2005 he received the Hillel Renaissance Award from Hillel International.


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: Bronfman was a guest blogger for "The Huffington Post" and a regular contributor to "The Washington Post".


title: Edgar Bronfman Sr.

text: The following is a video of the memorial service held for Edgar M. Bronfman on January 28, 2014, at Lincoln Center:


title: PL-12

text: The PL-12 (, NATO reporting name: CH-AA-7) is an active radar-guided beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile developed by the People's Republic of China. It is considered comparable to the US AIM-120 AMRAAM and the Russian R-77.


title: PL-12

text: Development of the PL-12 (SD-10) began in 1997. The first public information of the Leihua Electronic Technology Research Institute's PL-12 then called the SD-10 emerged in 2001. Development was assisted by Vympel NPO and of Russia. Liang Xiaogeng is believed to have been the chief designer. Four successful test firings were made in 2004. The missile entered People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) service in 2005.


title: PL-12

text: The early batches of PL-12 missiles reportedly used the 9B-1348 radar seeker designed for the R-77 missile. The development process was assisted by Vympel NPO and Tactical Missile Corporation and benefited from Russian technology transfers. But as of 2018, the PL-12 was no longer reliant on Russian components for missile production.


title: PL-12

text: The guidance system comprises data-linked mid-course guidance and active radar homing for terminal guidance. The missile uses Chinese rocket motor and airframe. The PL-12 may have a passive homing mode for use against jammers and AEW aircraft. The maximum range is estimated to be .


title: PL-12

text: PL-12's overall dimension is larger than AIM-120 AMRAAM. Per PLAAF assessment, PL-12's capability sits between AIM-120B and AIM-120C, and the improved PL-12A is claimed to be comparable with the AIM-120C-4. The domestic version of the PL-12 features a variable-thrust rocket motor with a range of , while the export variant SD-10 features a reduced range of . According to the Royal United Services Institute, the range performance of PL-12 stands between AIM-120B and AIM-120C-5.


title: Long Way Down

text: Long Way Down is a television series and book documenting a motorcycle journey undertaken in 2007 by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, from John o' Groats in Scotland through eighteen countries in Europe and Africa to Cape Town in South Africa. It is a follow-up to the "Long Way Round" of 2004, when the pair rode east from London to New York via Eurasia and North America.


title: Long Way Down

text: The journey started on 12 May and finished on 4 August 2007. They were accompanied by the same key team members from "Long Way Round", including cameraman and director of photography Claudio Von Planta and cameraman Jimmy Simak (who also oversaw music supervision and soundtrack production), and producers Russ Malkin and David Alexanian. They also decided to travel with medic Dai Jones, cameraman and security officer Jim Foster, and various "fixers"—local guides and interpreters. They rode the BMW R1200GS Adventure, the successor to the R1150GS Adventure bikes in "Long Way Round".


title: Long Way Down

text: As with their previous trip, and Boorman's "Race to Dakar", Russ Malkin's company Big Earth produced the series. The television series began broadcast on BBC Two on 28 October 2007, with clips also shown online. The series was added to Apple TV+ on 18 September 2020 along with the first iteration "Long Way Round" (2004) and sequel "Long Way Up" (2020).


title: Long Way Down

text: The team travelled from their base in Shepherd's Bush, London, to John o' Groats at the northern tip of Scotland to begin their journey. The start was nearly delayed after Boorman, frustrated by an official at Gatwick Airport, made an off-the-cuff comment regarding bombs and was detained for questioning. After being released without charge, he took a later flight to Inverness, and the journey began as scheduled. The team took four days to ride from John o' Groats back to London, via the McGregor family home in Crieff and the Silverstone racetrack, where they camped in the middle of the circuit. They took the Channel Tunnel to France and rode south to Italy. The European leg ended in Sicily, where they caught a ferry to Tunisia.


title: Long Way Down

text: In Tunisia, McGregor and Boorman visited the set of "Star Wars" and then rode into Libya. However, American producer David Alexanian and cameraman Jimmy Simak were unable to obtain the necessary entry visas and were forced to fly from Tunisia to Egypt. After visiting the pyramids, they boarded a ferry to Sudan, continued into Ethiopia and then into Kenya, where they crossed the equator. From Kenya, they rode to Uganda and then Rwanda, where they had an audience with President Paul Kagame. They went from there to Tanzania and then into Malawi, where they were joined by Ewan McGregor's wife Eve. The final leg took them through Zambia, Namibia, Botswana and into South Africa. The journey ended at Cape Agulhas, the southernmost point of the continent, from where they were accompanied to Cape Town by a phalanx of bikers, similar to their arrival in New York on the "Long Way Round".


title: Long Way Down

text: The team anticipated problems at the various borders crossings, particularly in Africa. Given their experiences on the "Long Way Round", which included problems with Russian visas, a "fine" for a missing stamp in their carnet, and delays of up to twelve hours, major preparation and planning went into the transit between countries. Although the American crew members were barred from entering Libya, this was anticipated ahead of their arrival. Upon arrival in Tunisia, the team bribed the local authorities with a few bottles of vodka to aid their passage into the country. It was assumed this would become a regular occurrence while travelling through Africa. However, although delays of a few hours were common, there were few significant problems at crossing points as they travelled further south.


title: Long Way Down

text: The quality of road surfaces throughout east Africa were surprisingly smooth, but sections were rough, bumpy or had sandy terrain, with some travel through a small river and mud wallow. The shock absorbers bore the brunt, with both McGregor's and von Planta's bikes suffering broken springs. As the only spare had been fitted to McGregor's bike, von Planta rode in a support vehicle while his bike was sent ahead for repair. McGregor and von Planta also came off and damaged their bikes' bodywork, with von Planta involved in the more serious incident on a motorway in South Africa. Boorman admitted he had been "putting on a show" for a roadside garage and braked sharply as part of a maneuver. Von Planta says he was riding too closely and fell while avoiding a collision; he was shaken but uninjured. His motorcycle was substantially damaged, and the footage of the rest of the journey to Cape Agulhas appears only to include support vehicle and helmet cam footage, suggesting that Von Planta's motorcycle was no longer used. McGregor's wife, Eve, who learned to ride only for the journey, joined them partway and took several falls on sandy terrain in Malawi and Zambia, apparently without injury.


title: Long Way Down

text: During the trip, the pair visited three UNICEF facilities to promote the work done by the organisation.


title: Long Way Down

text: In Ethiopia, they visited a land mine awareness project and met children injured by mines. In Uganda, they met former child soldiers of the Lord's Resistance Army and saw the work being done to rehabilitate them. In Malawi, they visited care centres for children orphaned by AIDS. Both McGregor and Boorman had visited such centres in Africa previously.


title: Long Way Down

text: The title song was performed by Welsh group Stereophonics and is identical to the "Long Way Round" theme, with the lyric "round" replaced with "down".


title: Long Way Down

text: The soundtrack features music drawn substantially from the catalogue of Real World Records, which produced the accompanying album. Co-director of photography Jimmy Simak also acted as music supervisor and soundtrack producer for the series.


title: Long Way Down

text: In the final pages of the "Long Way Down" book, there is a mention of "Long Way To Go"; however, this is not the intended title for a third series but a reference to the continual support that UNICEF needs for its work. In the DVD extras, while preparing the bikes for cargo, Ewan McGregor refers to a possible future trip in South America, perhaps called "Long Way Up".


title: Long Way Down

text: On the "Late Show" with David Letterman (17 February 2010), McGregor said he was not planning another trip, because he found it difficult to be away from his family for such a long time, but he also mentioned wanting to do a trip from South to North America. In June 2015, McGregor indicated that the long-discussed South American trip was still at the planning stage, but he expected that an excursion through Baja California Peninsula would take place first. In March 2017, during a Reddit AMA, Ewan said there were "no plans at the moment" to do a third installment of the series. On 6 August 2018, Boorman tweeted a tease that the "Long Way Up", a trip from Tierra del Fuego to Alaska, would happen "if all goes well". In June 2019, it was reported that Boorman confirmed that the filming of a third installment would begin "in a few months".


title: Made in China

text: Made in China, Product of China or sometimes Made in PRC is a country of origin label affixed to products manufactured in the People's Republic of China. The "Made in China" label is the most recognizable label in the world today, due to the country being the largest exporter in the world.


title: Made in China

text: Due to the common association of the label with cheap, low-quality, and often dangerous products, the phrase "Made in China" is often used in a pejorative manner to refer to any low-quality products regardless of origin.


title: Made in China

text: China is currently the world's number-one manufacturer. China has been continuing to improve their ways of manufacturing by using robots and large scale factories.


title: Made in China

text: The "Made in China" brand was historically challenged by the US Cold War media campaigns that reported negatively on the brand and publicized hearings on the security of Chinese products in the United States Congress.


title: Made in China

text: Since the 21st century, China’s emerging independent companies have performed well in the international market. After entering the Chinese market, many multinational companies have not monopolized the Chinese market as they thought, but can only cooperate or share the market with Chinese companies, and Chinese companies Comparison with international companies.


title: Made in China

text: P & G entered the Chinese market in 1988, and began to profit in 1991. Its sales have been growing at a rate of 50% per year. In the 15th year of P&G's operation in China, at the end of 2003, it announced a new market strategy: "Eagle Shooting". "Eagle" refers to a local private enterprise Nice, the company uses Diao (eagle Pinyin) as its laundry soap and detergent brand name. Following the success of high-performance soap, Nice quickly launched another distinctive new product: Diao translucent laundry soap. The success of ultra-high performance soap and translucent laundry soap earned Nice the first pot of gold. Nice has become the industry leader. Since then, Diao card brand has gone beyond the remote town of Yeosu and fame throughout China.


title: Made in China

text: eBay in March 2002 acquisition of China's most popular auction site EveryNet, to enter the Chinese market. EachNet.com in China founded by two young graduates of Harvard Business School, who in 1999 brought the concept of eBay China. China is of strategic importance in eBay’s global strategy, and the company is ready to make long-term investments: a payback period of 5 to 10 years is sufficient. At that time, the Ma (Jack Ma) led by Ali Baba to $12 million investment in support of Taobao. But only four years later, eBay reached a deal that appeared to be withdrawing from the Chinese market, even though eBay stated that the deal did not mean exit. By the end of 2006, the battle had ended. Taobao has won a staggering 69% market share, while eBay's market share declined from 80% to 29%. On December 20, eBay's then CEO Meg Whitman went to Shanghai to announce his withdrawal from the battle. Alibaba's B2B sites primarily by global operators and manufacturers in China linked services for SMEs.


title: Made in China

text: On December 14, 2020, China National Administration of the market has made the decision based on "anti-monopoly law," Article 48, 49, Alibaba Investment Ltd. The three companies were sentenced to a fine of 500,000-yuan RMB administrative penalties. Last Christmas Eve (24 December), on the ants gold dress IPO was stopped after one month, the Chinese market regulators announced Alibaba suspicion of "alternative" monopoly (ie electronic business platform and take advantage of its dominant position business-to-platform dependencies between platform operators forced "alternative" behavior) and other acts of a criminal investigation. Alibaba share price immediately plunged. It is also China's first large-scale domestic science-based companies such investigations.


title: Made in China

text: In the 2007 Chinese export recalls, product safety institutions in the United States, Canada, the European Union, Australia and New Zealand issued recalls and import bans on a wide range of Chinese-made consumer goods, such as pet food, toys, toothpaste, lipstick, and certain types of seafood.


title: Made in China

text: During the 2008 Chinese export recalls, heparin was recalled by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) due to contamination of the raw heparin stock imported from China.


title: Made in China

text: Lenovo has admitted in a public statement that it had pre-installed third-party adware named Superfish that was considered malicious on an unknown number of machines, beginning from 2010.


title: Made in China

text: During the COVID-19 pandemic, rapid antibody tests purchased by Spain for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus reportedly detected only 30% of infected cases. An 80% detection rate was considered desirable. The tests were allegedly made by a firm which did not have permission to produce biomedical materials, and were inadvertently purchased by Spain due to insufficient oversight owing to the disruption caused by the pandemic.


title: Made in China

text: Recently, controversies related to products made in China have regarded the treatment of the Uyghur ethnic minority in the Xinjiang region, which has included use of forced labor.


title: Made in China

text: It is learned from China Grain Reserve Management Group that as the world's largest cotton consumer and second largest cotton producer, China will produce about 5.95 million tons of cotton in 2020/2021, with a total demand of about 7.8 million tons and an annual gap of about 1.85 million tons.


title: Made in China

text: The data published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations also show that China's seed cotton (cotton with no seeds removed) has been in the forefront of the world in recent years, ranking first in the world in 2018 and 2019. Although the output is large, it is still in short supply. In order to meet domestic demand, China still needs to import about 2 million tons of cotton every year on average. China has actively expanded import channels and strengthened cooperation with important cotton producing countries such as Brazil and India to ensure the stability of the domestic cotton supply chain.


title: Made in China

text: According to China Agricultural Net, the sown area of cotton in Xinjiang will reach 24.196 million mu () in 2020, of which the planting area of mechanical harvesting mode will reach 16.8963 million mu, and the planting area of mechanical harvesting will account for 69.83% of the total cotton sown area. In 2020, a total of 3,383 cotton pickers (2626 local) were put into use in various parts of Xinjiang, of which 1233 were involved in cross-regional operations (mainly the Corps and Beijiang cotton pickers).


title: Made in China

text: In the future, the mechanization of cotton picking will continue to advance. The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Agricultural and Rural Mechanization Development Center's 2021 work points mentioned that in 2021, it will accelerate the improvement of the level of mechanization of cotton production and guide the transformation of cotton production to full mechanization. The new machine-picked cotton area in Xinjiang will be more than 1.6 million mu, and the whole process of cotton production will be The mechanization rate reached 88%, and the cotton mechanization rate increased by 4%.


title: Made in China

text: Among them, Xinjiang is the main producing area of cotton in China. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Statistics Bureau show that in 1949, Xinjiang's cotton production accounted for only 1% of the country's total. In 2012, Xinjiang’s cotton production accounted for more than 50% of the country’s cotton production. In the following years, this data continued to rise. By 2020, Xinjiang’s cotton production has accounted for 87% of the country’s cotton production.


title: Made in China

text: The problem of Xinjiang’s labor camps has long existed. In addition to denials, Chinese officials have actually taken specific actions to modify the operation of the re-education camps on a large scale. The British and US customs banned the import of products from Xinjiang’s re-education camps as early as 2020. In September 2020, the United States Congress passed the "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act", which stipulates that unless companies provide clear and convincing evidence that there is no forced labor in their supply chain, the import of all products from Xinjiang is completely prohibited. The "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act" has caused substantial interference with the operations of multinational companies. Therefore, President Trump announced the signing after it was passed, and the successor Biden has not yet dealt with it.


title: Made in China

text: At the same time, H&M issued a statement as early as October last year that "no longer use Xinjiang cotton to produce goods, and no purchase of related raw materials." Although the Chinese government was unhappy, it did not immediately punish or sanction the company, nor did it impose other sanctions on the company. Foreign companies participating in the BCI conducted substantive audits. The Chinese government was silent for nearly half a year before suddenly resorting to mass movements.


title: Made in China

text: In 2013, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and his State Council approved a plan called "Made in China 2025". Drafted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the plan took one hundred and fifty people over two years to complete. The plan's aim is to improve production efficiency and quality. The "Made In China 2025" initiative is not just aimed at removing dependence on foreign technology, but also to have China actively lead and define international technology standards.


title: Made in China

text: The impact of the export of Chinese-made products on the Chinese economy and overview the impact of the export of Chinese-made products on the international economy. It will include the draft outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), to show the further plan from the Chinese government that has already made for future export of made-in-China products.


title: Made in China

text: On March 5 (Friday) in the "Two Sessions" event held in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China reviewed and approved the draft outline of the Fourteenth Five-Year Plan (2021-2025). China's next five-year plan aimed at clothing production westwards, including the contentious Xinjiang, and expand the domestic market in the world's largest clothing, footwear and raw material producing countries.


title: Made in China

text: Overall, the new program aims to achieve financial services, real estate and industrial and agricultural economy "balanced development", aimed at achieving supply chain and modern production chain, so that China continues "green transformation" by stringent environmental regulations, and stabilize agribusiness, Coordinate urban and rural development.


title: Made in China

text: "Fourteenth Five-Year Plan" also includes so-called "dual circulation" doctrine of the outline, China will be based on the promotion of "internal circulation" trade, rather than over-reliance on open international market.


title: Made in China

text: By the 1970s, Hong Kong had an abundance of cheap labor, thus large-scale processing and manufacturing of products for international brands. Hong Kong needs the production and export of daily life electronic watches, toys, clothes and other products around the world. During this time, Hong Kong strictly adopted Western production and management standards under British rule. So many people in Western countries regard the Hong Kong goods associated with quality.


title: Made in China

text: In 1974, the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption was established. Independent Commission Against Corruption to ensure strict compliance with company and factory production standards, while preventing corruption in business. With these policies and advantages, Hong Kong witnessed the golden age of manufacturing industry in the 1980s.


title: Made in China

text: In Australia, the Hong Kong-made products can be traced back to the 1930s. During the Great Depression, Australia's exports to Hong Kong exceeded its imports. Imports from Hong Kong products are usually the local Chinese community products, including rice, ginger, essential oils, tea, textiles, embroidery and lace. By the 1970s, trade between Australia and Hong Kong is growing, more and more manufactured goods shipped to Hong Kong on Australian shelves. In the 1970s emigration from Hong Kong, the influx of products manufactured in Hong Kong's imports from Chinatown, such as chopsticks and rice cookers.


title: Made in China

text: In the 1990s, Hong Kong's status as a manufacturing hub began to decline. With mainland China opening up to the world economy, many companies moved their factories from the neighboring province of Guangdong, Hong Kong. Since then, Hong Kong, Australia, the production of goods declined significantly. As foreign investment continues to flow into mainland China, Hong Kong has gradually lost its advantage as a manufacturing center. With plenty of cheap labor and land, China has become the "world factory", but Hong Kong has seen a small real estate prices soaring. Made in Hong Kong will be replaced by Made in China. In November 2020, the United States for all products imported from Hong Kong re-labeled "Made in China" label, in response to China's increasingly strict controls Hong Kong's autonomy.


title: Made in China

text: While political leaders traded threats, this pandemic makes Americans more dependent on Chinese manufacturers. Analysis of e-commerce Marketplace Pulse, said nearly half of Amazon's bestseller - in the United States with annual sales of over a million dollars - all in Chinese. Amazon spokesman recently described it as inaccurate, though he declined to say how many Chinese seller, saying only that most third-party vendors on the US site are in the United States. On the product page, Chinese sellers rarely advertise their location.


title: Made in China

text: In a report entitled "China's factory activity expands at fastest pace in over three years", Reuters said that China's official PMI index rose from 51.4% in October to 52.1% in November, the highest since September 2017. Value, and higher than the 51.5% previously expected by Reuters analysts. This shows that China's manufacturing industry has returned to the level before the new crown pneumonia pandemic.


title: Made in China

text: The report of the US Consumer News and Business Channel website specifically mentioned that China’s November non-manufacturing business activity index and composite PMI output index were both at their highest points during the year, and were above the threshold for 9 consecutive months, showing that China’s The non-manufacturing and service industries have continued their steady and positive recovery.


title: Made in China

text: According to a report from Nihon Keizai Shimbun on November 29: "China's share of global exports is rising, even exceeding the level before the Sino-US trade war broke out in 2018." According to the report, data on 3,800 commodities from the International Trade Center The analysis found that China accounted for more than 50% of the total of 320 kinds of commodities in 2019, close to 10%. This number is more than four times more than when China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001 (61 kinds).


title: Made in China

text: As the COVID-19 vaccines are put into use in the future, they will help boost market confidence and promote global economic recovery. China will be the only country to achieve positive economic growth this year. By the end of next year, the global economy may return to the level before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is expected that China's contribution to global economic growth next year will reach one-third.


title: Chocolate Rain

text: "Chocolate Rain" is a song by American singer Tay Zonday. It quickly became popular after the music video for the song was uploaded to YouTube on April 23, 2007, and has since been viewed more than 134 million times. "Chocolate Rain" was ranked as the hottest viral video of summer 2007 by CTV and was awarded the 2008 YouTube Award in the category "Music". Lyrically, the song is a metaphor for racism against African Americans in the United States.


title: Chocolate Rain

text: The official music video for "Chocolate Rain," lasting 4 minutes and 52 seconds, was uploaded on April 23, 2007 to Tay Zonday's official YouTube channel. The video portrays Zonday in a recording studio wearing a white T-shirt and singing into a condenser microphone. Occasional cuts to Zonday playing a digital piano are also shown. A caption appears early in the video – "**I move away from the mic to breathe in".


title: Chocolate Rain

text: The music video was ranked as the hottest viral video of summer 2007 by CTV. The video has garnered over 133 million views .


title: Chocolate Rain

text: Garth Montgomery of "The Daily Telegraph" described the song as having a "hypnotic quality," with "curious vocals that sound like a man much older than the young artist," playing over a "cheesy" drum loop.


title: Chocolate Rain

text: During a brief interview on "The Opie and Anthony Show", Zonday called the song "cheesy" and commented how its lyrics dealt with racism.


title: Chocolate Rain

text: The initial spread of the popularity of the song was due to 4chan. Zonday said, "I'm pretty sure the 'Chocolate Rain' attention started as a joke at 4chan.org, an internet forum that is credited with starting lots of popular internet phenomena. It spread to a general audience and people started uploading spoofs. I don't know what causes people to listen to my music. If I could speak it, there would be no reason to write songs."


title: Chocolate Rain

text: Clips of the video have been played or referenced on television and radio shows, including G4TV's "Attack of the Show", "Last Call" with Carson Daly, "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart", "Maury" and "Online Nation". On August 9, 2007, Zonday performed the song on the late-night talk show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" as part of its "Internet Talent Showcase". It has also been performed live on the BBC Radio 1 "Chris Moyles Show". Later, Zonday came out on "Lily Allen and Friends", where he sang in a live performance of Lily Allen's song "Smile". Zonday performed Chocolate Rain during the autism education benefit Night of Too Many Stars on October 2, 2010. During some 2007 and 2008 performances, LeRoi Moore, the saxophonist for the Dave Matthews Band, integrated the melody into an outro on the band's song "The Dreaming Tree". Zonday also got a "Web Redemption" on Daniel Tosh's show "Tosh.0".


title: Chocolate Rain

text: "Chocolate Rain" is the subject of numerous parodies, tributes, remixes, and covers on the Internet. Major musical artists (such as John Mayer and Green Day drummer Tre Cool) have spoofed the song on TV and YouTube and Blamesociety Productions produced its own parody using Chad Vader.


title: Chocolate Rain

text: Zonday himself appeared on the August 2007 episode of VH1's "Best Week Ever" and performed a parody called "Summer Break". In March 2008, Zonday performed the song during "YouTube Live" - during the same show, Bo Burnham (with his song "Welcome to YouTube") made a comical reference to the song, with the lyrics "Your favourite coat's got a doo-doo stain, I pray to God that's Chocolate Rain." Zonday was featured in the music video for rock band Weezer's song "Pork and Beans" and appeared in a YouTube video with Weezer's Brian Bell to play an acoustic version of "Pork and Beans" on June 3, 2008. Zonday himself appeared as a guest voice on an episode of "Robot Chicken", where the song was spoofed as "Chocolate Grain". The song was part of the mashup "Like Tears In Chocolate Rain" from Neil Cicierega's "Mouth Sounds".


title: Chocolate Rain

text: On April 2, 2008, "South Park" aired "Canada on Strike", in which Zonday appears talking about "Chocolate Rain" (along with other Internet memes), only to be killed when a stare from the Dramatic Look Gopher makes his head explode. The title of the hit was humorously manipulated in the phrase "get ready for some chocolate pain" within the episode. The episode brought back the video's popularity and boosted its views by over one million in the days following its airing. In "The Office" episode "Business Ethics," Michael Scott confesses that when he discovered YouTube, he "watched Cookie Monster sings 'Chocolate Rain' about a thousand times". This prompted the creation of several such videos a few days later. While making a guest appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" in April 2007, Paul Reubens debuted a spoof educational movie called "Journey to Banana Land" that beckoned "Chocolate Rain" when the narrator mentions cocoa trees; Zonday's YouTube video is used as Reubens sings along (Zonday himself performed the song on "Kimmel" in August 2007, to a mixed audience reception.) On "30 Rock", Liz called Toofer "Chocolate Rain" in "SeinfeldVision". It was also referenced in the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Boating Buddies". Squidward spills hot chocolate on himself and SpongeBob says, "Chocolate Rain!"


title: Chocolate Rain

text: On July 28, 2017 the rock and roll jam band Phish paid tribute to the song by performing it as the opening number to their Baker's Dozen chocolate donut themed concert at Madison Square Garden.


title: Chocolate Rain

text: In November 2007, Tay Zonday licensed the song to and recorded spoof lyrics for Comedy Central as a promo clip for their show "Last Laugh with Lewis Black". On November 28, 2007, Zonday released a spoof/sequel to the song titled "Cherry Chocolate Rain". The music video is professionally shot and makes many allusions to the original song. The song makes fun of itself with its over-the-top visuals and mentions how Zonday was "paid a hefty, hefty fee" to do the video, as well as featuring professional rapper Mista Johnson, who repeats, "He moves his mouth away from the mic so he can breathe." The video and song were created as part of a promotional campaign for Cherry Chocolate Diet Dr Pepper.


title: Chocolate Rain

text: The song and video are licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license. It has been suggested that the relative openness of the license has helped to encourage the song's spread. Creative Commons has praised Tay Zonday specifically for this very reason. Zonday has expressed his own thoughts on the licensing situation on his Myspace blog, stating, "I want non-profit radio and small mom/pop cafes to be able to play my music for free. But I also want giant corporations who can afford to give me a dime or two to pay fair royalties."


title: Columbia Correctional Institution (Wisconsin)

text: The Columbia Correctional Institution (CCI) is an adult male maximum-security correctional facility operated by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections Division of Adult Institutions in Portage, Columbia County, Wisconsin. The operating capacity is 541. The average daily population for fiscal year 2018 was 830. Larry Fuchs, the warden, has been in that position since April 2020.


text: The facility was constructed on at a cost of $38.6 million. It has an area of inside the perimeter fence. Columbia Correctional Institution opened in May 1986, with an original capacity of 450 inmates housed in single bed cells. In 1997, a 150-bed barracks was constructed for minimum security inmates and over time many of the single bed cells have been converted to double bed cells.


text: In 1988, a sculpture entitled "Chromatic Fragments—Vortex to the Sky" by artist and University of Illinois Professor of Art Christiane Martens was installed in the parking area of the prison. The tall painted steel sculpture cost $50,000.


text: In 2007, a female staff member was accused of having sex with inmates at the prison. She pleaded no contest to a lesser charge. In 2008, a female corrections officer was charged with multiple counts of second degree sexual assault. The use of force was not alleged in either situation, but Wisconsin law does not allow prisoners to consent to sex with prison staff. Punishment can be up to 40 years in prison, and a large fine.


text: In 2020, two inmates escaped from the maximum security portion of the prison. James Newman and Thomas Deering both used clothing and yoga mats to scale the two high security fences. While one of the security fences was supposed to be an electric "Stun Fence", it was not operational at the time. In addition, possibly due to act 10 and short staffing, all but one of the five watch towers meant to watch the fence were unmanned at the time of the escape. Both inmates managed to make it over both fences and make it all the way to Illinois before being captured.


text: CCI has 12 total housing units, 6 general population, 2 SMU (Special Management Unit [psych]), 2 segregation (plus one housing unit is half for SMU seg and reception and orientation houses min/med security seg if not put to DS2 or DS1), 1 × 150 bed barracks, 1 × 13 cell R&O (Reception & Orientation). The facility is stated to have ten living areas with 50 cells each and a 150-bed barracks.


title: Perciformes

text: Perciformes (), also called the Percomorpha or Acanthopteri, is an order or superorder of ray-finned fish. If considered a single order, they are the most numerous order of vertebrates, containing about 41% of all bony fish. Perciformes means "perch-like". Perciformes is an Order within the Clade Percomorpha consisting of "perch-like" Percomorphans. This group comprises over 10,000 species found in almost all aquatic ecosystems.


title: Perciformes

text: The order contains about 160 families, which is the most of any order within the vertebrates. It is also the most variably sized order of vertebrates, ranging from the "Schindleria brevipinguis" to the marlin in the genus "Makaira". They first appeared and diversified in the Late Cretaceous.


title: Perciformes

text: Among the well-known members of this group are perch and darters (Percidae), sea bass and groupers (Serranidae).


title: Perciformes

text: The dorsal and anal fins are divided into anterior spiny and posterior soft-rayed portions, which may be partially or completely separated. The pelvic fins usually have one spine and up to five soft rays, positioned unusually far forward under the chin or under the belly. Scales are usually ctenoid (rough to the touch), although sometimes they are cycloid (smooth to the touch) or otherwise modified.


title: Perciformes

text: Classification of this group is controversial. As traditionally defined before the introduction of cladistics, the Perciformes are almost certainly paraphyletic. Other orders that should possibly be included as suborders are the Scorpaeniformes, Tetraodontiformes, and Pleuronectiformes.


title: Perciformes

text: Of the presently recognized suborders, several may be paraphyletic, as well. These are grouped by suborder/superfamily, generally following the text "Fishes of the World".


title: Lamb of God (album)

text: Lamb of God is the tenth studio album by American heavy metal band Lamb of God. The album was initially set for release on May 8, 2020 through Epic and Nuclear Blast, but was later pushed back to June 19 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "Lamb of God" marks the first studio album of all-new material by the band since 2015's "", making it the longest gap between their albums, and the first to feature Art Cruz as the replacement for original drummer Chris Adler, who left the band in July 2019. "Lamb of God" was once again produced by longtime collaborator Josh Wilbur, who has worked with the band since 2006's "Sacrament".


title: Lamb of God (album)

text: A three-disc deluxe edition with two bonus tracks, along with an additional CD and DVD featuring the band's live stream event from September 18, 2020, in which the band performed "Lamb of God" in its entirety plus four encore tracks, was released on March 26, 2021 through Nuclear Blast.


title: Lamb of God (album)

text: "Lamb of God" received critical acclaim from music critics upon its release. At review aggregate Metacritic, the album has an average score of 81 out of 100 based on eight reviews, indicating "universal acclaim reviews". At AnyDecentMusic?, the album has an average score of 7.5 out of 10 based on six reviews.


title: Lamb of God (album)

text: James Christopher Monger from AllMusic awarded the album four out of five stars, describing the album "a tense, yet confident album for taut and uncomfortable times." Manus Hopkins from "Exclaim!" scored the album 7 out of 10, and said that while nothing in "Lamb of God" feels "groundbreaking" or "cutting-edge" like the band's previous albums, the album is still "essentially what fans should expect from the band at this point." James McMahon from "NME" also gave the album four out of five stars, calling the album "a record that's the most authentic version of the band Lamb of God want to be." He particularly singled out the song "Memento Mori", which "driven by Mark Morton's unforgiving guitar, flirts with the ethereal goth of the Sisters of Mercy."


title: Lamb of God (album)

text: Kory Grow from "Rolling Stone" gave the album three out of five stars, stating that the album contains "the sort of piledriving guitar riffs and Olympic-medal-worthy drumming the band has perfected over the last 20 years" which making it easy for the band's "less political fans" to "get in on the fun." He also praised Blythe's "open-minded" and "inclusive" lyrics that make listeners to "strain your ears to make sense of his screeds."