title: Yangban

text: "Yangban" were the Joseon Dynasty equivalent of the former Goryeo nobles who had been educated in Buddhist and Confucian studies. With the succession of the Yi generals in the Joseon dynasty, prior feuds and factions were quelled through a decisive attempt to instill administrative organization throughout Korea and create a new class of agrarian bureaucrats. The individual "yangban" included members of this new class of bureaucrats and former Goryeo nobility. While ostensibly open to all, the "civil service exams" () catered to the lifestyle and habits of the "yangban", which created a semi-hereditary meritocracy, as "yangban" families overwhelmingly possessed the minimum education, uninterrupted study time and immense financial resources to pass such exams. The yangban, like the Mandarins before them, dominated the Royal Court and military of pre-Modern Korea and often were exempt from laws including those relating to taxes.


title: Yangban

text: There were at most 100 positions open with thousands of candidates taking the exams. Competition that was originally supposed to bring out the best in each candidate gave way to the importance of familial relationships. Because the Joseon Court was constantly divided among the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western faction members (the eccentric geographical naming derived from the location of each leader's house in Seoul which were divided into subsections), a divided system resulted where corruption was very difficult. With each faction constantly probing for an excuse to kill off the other, if one faction was proven to be corrupt then the other factions would immediately jump on the chance to purge them. The attempt to receive or give bribes on a massive scale was suicide. It wasn't until the reign of King Sunjo that the Kim clan of Andong in cooperation with few other blood related grandee clans obtained full control over the court — after purging their rival factions and other rival clans in their own political faction the Joseon bureaucracy degenerated into corruption. At this level the exceptionally powerful families could be more properly referred to as "sedoga" () instead of mere "yangban", which by then came to include shades of classes other than the grandees.


title: Yangban

text: From the sixteenth century and increasingly during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, high-ranking offices were monopolized by a few grandee families based in Seoul or the Han River Valley, therefore blocking any chance of gaining high-ranking posts by many provincial families of pedigree. However, provincial magnates began to refer themselves as "yangban" whether they held government offices or not. As more families claimed to be "yangban" and exercised provincial influences through local institutions, such as local council, pedigree acknowledgment and Confucius school ("seowon"), the term lost its original meaning and became a sort of social status that had a confusing legal standing. Its economic and cultural domain was clear, though. A landlord who studied classics at "seowon" () could be easily looked upon as "yangban" by the local populace. People could now purchase "yangban" status by paying to procure lower government posts or "jokbo" (), the noble pedigree.


title: Yangban

text: Nearly all "yangban" of upper-high ranking grandee to lower-ranking provincial landlord status suddenly lost their ancient political, social and economic power during the twentieth century. The legality of "yangban" was abolished in 1894. Subsequently their political and administrative role was replaced by Japanese colonial government and its administrators, although some "yangban" maintained their wealth and power by cooperating with the Japanese. However, the erosion of an idea of complete and exclusive power was irreversible. Many "yangban" families lost their estates as land became a marketable commodity. This economic debasement gained a tremendous force during the Korean War when land ownership was disturbed in an unprecedented scale. When South Korea began its new government after the war, "yangban" were mostly extinct and powerless, which is one reason the South Korean government was relatively free from landed interests. President Syngman Rhee had "rehired" the "yangban" to hold positions in the new government during the late 1940s. He made this decision to bring them back to start the government off on a good footing, by using those who were already familiar with lawmaking and administration. However, his effort came to none when the war broke out in 1950. After this decade the country was to be dominated by the military and industrial magnates.


title: Yangban

text: In modern-day Korea, the "yangban" as a social class with legal status and landed wealth no longer exists either in the north or the south. Nevertheless, those who are well-connected in Korean society are sometimes said to have ""yangban"" connections. Though these claims may have some merit, such references are not usually intended to suggest any real "yangban" lineage or ancestry. (Many descendants of the "yangban" class live today. As the changing fortunes of that class rendered many individuals of "former" "yangban" status, it is not a stretch to assume that many, if not most, Koreans have at least some connection to the "yangban" class, if not any direct descent. In addition, the acquisition or theft of clan lineage records or "jokbo" during tumultuous times in Korea's history has thrown doubt on some claims of "yangban" descent.) Today, the "yangban" have been replaced by the Korean ruling class, i.e., an elite class of business and government elites, who dominate the country through their wealth, power and influence channeled through their familial and social networks. (This applies to North and South Korea, though the North's elite class is largely military-based.) The word is also used, at least in South Korea, as a common reference (sometimes with distinctly negative connotations, reflecting the negative impression the class system and its abuses left on Koreans as a whole) to an older, sometimes cantankerous/stubborn man.


title: The Great Red Dragon paintings

text: "The Great Red Dragon" paintings are a series of watercolour paintings by the English poet and painter William Blake, painted between 1805 and 1810. It was during this period that Blake was commissioned to create over one hundred paintings intended to illustrate books of the Bible. These paintings depict "The Great Red Dragon" in various scenes from the Book of Revelation.


title: The Great Red Dragon paintings

text: This image is similar to the work with a similar name in the Brooklyn Museum (see above) but the subject is shown from a different viewpoint and the figures are in different positions.


title: The Great Red Dragon paintings

text: It has been used as the Oxford World's Classics front cover of "The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner."


title: The Great Red Dragon paintings

text: Several of the paintings featured prominently in the 2019 psychological horror film "Saint Maud" by British director Rose Glass.


title: The Great Red Dragon paintings

text: The 1981 novel "Red Dragon", by author Thomas Harris, heavily features the Blake painting. The primary antagonist is driven by a psychological obsession with the painting, including having the painting tattooed onto his back and the belief that his murders will help him to transform into the Red Dragon. Near the end of the novel, he attempts to break away from his beliefs by going to the Brooklyn museum and eating the original painting itself. The 2002 film version of the novel includes these elements, and features multiple shots of the painting, as did the NBC prequel series "Hannibal".


title: D. Boon

text: Dennes Dale Boon (April 1, 1958 – December 22, 1985) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and vocalist of the punk rock trio Minutemen.


title: D. Boon

text: Dennes Boon was born in San Pedro, California, on April 1, 1958. His father, a navy veteran, worked installing radios in Buick cars, and the Boons lived in former World War II barracks that had been converted into public housing.


title: D. Boon

text: According to childhood friend and future bandmate Mike Watt, Boon was unfamiliar with popular music and had grown up listening to Buck Owens and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Watt introduced Boon to Blue Öyster Cult and The Who. Urged by Boon's mother, Boon and Watt began to learn to play instruments.


title: D. Boon

text: They learned to play by copying songs from their favorite bands' records. Boon took a few lessons from local teacher Roy Mendez Lopez who taught him rock as well as flamenco and classical.


title: D. Boon

text: As a teenager, Boon began painting and signed his works "D. Boon," partly because "D" was his slang for cannabis, partly after Daniel Boone, but mostly because it was similar to E. Bloom, Blue Öyster Cult's vocalist and guitarist.


title: D. Boon

text: Boon formed his first band, The Reactionaries, with Watt in 1978. The band's members were lead vocalist Martin Tamburovich, Boon on guitar, bassist Watt, and drummer George Hurley. The Reactionaries existed for most of 1978 and 1979, practicing regularly but rarely if ever performing live.


title: D. Boon

text: After only seven months, Boon and Watt broke the band up feeling that the traditional frontman-style band was "bourgeois."


title: D. Boon

text: Boon formed Minutemen in January 1980 with Mike Watt on bass and Frank Tonche on drums. Tonche was soon replaced by former Reactionaries drummer George Hurley. Their best-known album is "Double Nickels on the Dime".


title: D. Boon

text: The Minutemen continued until December 22, 1985, when Boon was killed in a van accident in the Arizona desert on Interstate 10. Because he had been sick with fever, Boon was lying down in the rear of the van without a seatbelt when the rear axle broke and the van ran off the road. Boon was thrown out the back door of the van and died instantly from a broken neck. He was 27 years old. Boon's death caused the band to immediately dissolve, though Watt and Hurley would form the band Firehose soon after. The live album "Ballot Result" was released in 1987, two years after Boon's death.


title: D. Boon

text: Boon's guitar style is very distinctive; he rarely used distortion and frequently set the equalization on his amplifier so that only the treble frequencies were heard – the bass and midrange frequencies would be turned off completely. His style had a heavy funk/blues feel which was very different from other hardcore punk bands in the 1980s.


title: D. Boon

text: Boon is responsible for the writing and composition of the Minutemen's most anthemic songs (in contrast to Watt's stream of consciousness lyrics), including "This Ain't No Picnic," "Corona," "The Price of Paradise," and "Courage." A lifelong artist, Boon also created drawings or paintings for the Minutemen releases "Joy", "The Punch Line", "The Politics of Time", "Project: Mersh" and "3-Way Tie (For Last)".


title: D. Boon

text: Since the first Firehose album, Mike Watt has dedicated every record he has worked on – be it Firehose, solo, or otherwise – to D. Boon's memory. A song on Watt's semi-autobiographical 1997 album "Contemplating the Engine Room," "The Boilerman," is about D. Boon; on the recording itself, guitarist Nels Cline plays one of Boon's last Telecaster guitars, which Watt is in possession of. Watt also mentions his fallen friend in Firehose's "Disciples of the 3-Way" ("Mr. Machinery Operator") and his own "Burstedman" ("The Secondman's Middle Stand").


title: D. Boon

text: Boon has been paid tribute by American alternative band Stigmata-A-Go-Go with the song "D. Boon," from its 1994 album "It's All True," Uncle Tupelo with a different song "D. Boon" from its 1991 album "Still Feel Gone," and Centro-matic's song "D.Boon-Free (A Ninth Grade Crime)" off "The Static vs. The Strings Vol. 1". His story is also told in the documentary "We Jam Econo".


title: D. Boon

text: In 2003, former D. Boon roommate Richard Derrick released the CD "D. Boon and Friends," a collection of jam session tapes he recorded with D. Boon, and rare Boon solo performances, as the first release on his Box-O-Plenty Records label. Mike Watt authorized the release and provided technical assistance and liner notes.


title: D. Boon

text: In his review of the band's last album, music critic Robert Christgau described the death of Boon as "a rock death that for wasted potential has Lennon and Hendrix for company," adding that "after seven fairly amazing years he was just getting started. Shit, shit, shit."


title: Gypsy Woman (Crystal Waters song)

text: "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)" (also released as "Gypsy Woman (La da dee la da da)") is a song by American singer Crystal Waters from her debut studio album, "Surprise" (1991). Written by Neal Conway and Waters, the song was released on April 3, 1991, as the lead single from the album. It is famous for its "la da dee, la dee da" refrain and its often-sampled keyboard riff. The song is also widely regarded as one of the biggest classics of house music and has been remixed several times.


title: Gypsy Woman (Crystal Waters song)

text: "Gypsy Woman" was a commercial success upon release, peaking at number eight on the "Billboard" Hot 100. Outside of the United States, "Gypsy Woman" topped the charts in Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and on the Eurochart Hot 100. The song also peaked within the top ten of the charts in at least eight countries, including Germany, the Republic of Ireland, and the United Kingdom, and peaked within the top 20 of the charts in Australia and France.


title: Gypsy Woman (Crystal Waters song)

text: In 2020, "Slant Magazine" ranked the song number 10 in their list of "The 100 Best Dance Songs of All Time".


title: Gypsy Woman (Crystal Waters song)

text: Crystal Waters grew up in a very musical family. Her great aunt, Ethel Waters, was a famous singer and actor in the 1940s. Waters' father was a jazz musician and her uncle was the lead saxophonist with MFSB. At age eleven, she began writing poetry and was inducted into the Poetry Society of America when she was 14, the youngest person ever to receive that honor.


title: Gypsy Woman (Crystal Waters song)

text: After studying business and computer science at university, she worked for the Washington, D.C. government, in the computer division, issuing arrest warrants. A workmate's cousin owned a recording studio and Waters found out that it was looking for backup singers. She went to the studio, got a job, and became a writer and backup singer. At a conference in Washington, D.C., she met the house-music production team Basement Boys. They wanted her to write some house songs for them while keeping her jazz influences. Thomas Davis from the Basement Boys told in a 1991 interview, "It was a great combination of influences. Crystal brings a background of jazz and blues to her music, which blended well with our various ideas." The first two songs she wrote were "Makin' Happy" and "Gypsy Woman".


title: Gypsy Woman (Crystal Waters song)

text: "Gypsy Woman" was written by Waters with Neal Conway and was originally written for the American singer Ultra Naté, but when Waters recorded a demo herself, the production company drew up a recording contract for her on the spot and never passed the song to its intended vocalist. The song is about a homeless woman who wears make-up and thinks of herself as beautiful despite busking on a street corner. The song includes the chorus of "La da dee, la da da" and a much-sampled organ refrain. It was released as the first single from her 1991 debut album, "Surprise".


title: Gypsy Woman (Crystal Waters song)

text: Waters began working on the song after receiving beats from her producers she was supposed to write lyrics over. It was the song's heavy bass line that inspired her to riff "la da dee la da da" overtop of the rhythm, but she had trouble coming up with lyrics to match those short syllables. "I said to myself there must be someone singing it, and I thought of this woman ... she used to stand downtown on the corners, and she was dressed in all black," she told the Glitterbox Radio Show in 2017.


title: Gypsy Woman (Crystal Waters song)

text: Even though the sound was a huge dance hit, Crystal Waters wanted people to listen to the lyrics about homelessness. She actually was upset that they weren't listening to the lyrics. At her prompting, the record company put a label with the addition of "She's Homeless" on the cover.


title: Gypsy Woman (Crystal Waters song)

text: A year after its release, a new version turned up on the Red Hot Organization's "Red Hot + Dance" AIDS fundraiser disc (1992, distributed by Sony Music), gaining its remixer, Joey Negro, his first real American exposure.


title: Gypsy Woman (Crystal Waters song)

text: The song received favorable reviews from most music critics. AllMusic editor Alex Henderson wrote that it "made it clear that house music could be as socially aware as rap". He described it as a "wildly infectious treasure" and noted further that it has a "poignant and moving reflection on a homeless woman's struggle that makes its point without preaching." David Taylor-Wilson from "Bay Area Reporter" commented that it "will undoubtedly go down as the quintessential song of the summer." Larry Flick from "Billboard" noted that the "inspired deep house dish has already begun to explode at club level, thanks to Waters' unique vocal and a hypnotic hook and groove crafted by hot production team the Basement Boys. Expect extensive radio action [in] several formats momentarily." He added it as "pure musical magic." Matt Stopera and Brian Galindo from "BuzzFeed" said, "Problematic title. Great song. A classic." A reviewer from "Cashbox" stated that by the time the single reached record stores, "it was already a big hit." "Complex" noted that it is "such a mixture of vibes", adding it as "funky".


title: Gypsy Woman (Crystal Waters song)

text: Marisa Fox from "Entertainment Weekly" commented, "'La-da-dee/la-dee-da.' You just can't escape this summer's runaway hit song, the jazz-house hybrid 'Gypsy Woman' by Crystal Waters. She hums in an airy, scat-like fashion about a woman 'who's just like you and me but she's homeless…and she stands there singing for money.'" Dave Sholin from the "Gavin Report" commented, "Exciting and totally fresh, this track broke out of the New York club scene and found its way onto HOT 97. APD/MD Kevin McCabe reports out of the fifty 12-inches he researches each week, it debuted at #3! Kevin says the response is across-the-board with teens requesting it, as well as women 30+ who call in Middays, asking for the song that goes, 'Dah dah dee dah dah dah.' It charts at #16, getting eight plays a day. Also debuted at #29 on KMEL and POWER 106 with adds at WTIC/FM, WIOQ/FM, and Z100 New York. 'Do I love it? YEAH!'" "Lennox Herald" wrote that "Gypsy Woman" is "a detailed account of the day-to-day life of a homeless woman in Washington, DC".


title: Gypsy Woman (Crystal Waters song)

text: Pan-European magazine "Music & Media" noted, "The "La Da Dee La Da Da" bit of this dance track is especially and undeniably catchy. Mainland Europe is next." Alan Jones from "Music Week" commented that "the insidious 'la da dee' chorus can be a little wearing after a while, but there's enough promise in the verses, both melodically and lyrically to suggest that Waters can be a bright new star." James Hamilton from the magazine's "RM" Dance Update stated that "this Basement Boys produced strange haunting plaintive girl chanted and keyboards jabbed frisky Italo-type canterer has a madly catchy "la da dee, la de dah" chorus". "Reading Evening Post" called the track "infectious". Scott Poulson-Bryant from "Spin" wrote that "with its nursery-rhymish hook and accessible cultural concern, this hypnotically danceable track has insinuated itself into the pop consciousness with an almost dreamy forcefulness". "Sunday World" described the song as "instantly catchy".


title: Gypsy Woman (Crystal Waters song)

text: "Gypsy Woman" peaked at number eight on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and went to number one on the "Billboard" Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. "Gypsy Woman" also earned Waters three American Music Award nominations. In the United Kingdom, "Gypsy Woman" debuted at number three on the UK Singles Chart on May 12, 1991 – for the week ending date May 18, 1991. The following week, the song peaked at number two on the chart, becoming Waters' highest-charting song in Britain. It also soared to the number one position on the UK Dance Singles Chart. Retitled "Gypsy Woman (La Da Dee)", the song was the highest-debuting single for a new act on the UK Singles Chart at that time. Its debut at number three on the chart was later eclipsed by Gabrielle's "Dreams" entering at number two in June 1993, then by Whigfield's "Saturday Night" debuting at the top of the chart in September 1994.


title: Gypsy Woman (Crystal Waters song)

text: In the rest of Europe, "Gypsy Woman" also peaked within the top 10 of the charts in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Portugal and Sweden. "Gypsy Woman" was awarded with a gold record in the United Kingdom for 400,000 singles sold and in the United States after 500,000 units were sold. When the song was coming down in the chart rankings, it appeared on the benefit album "Red Hot + Dance" in a new incarnation mixed by Joey Negro, who took the song into a new musical direction.


title: Gypsy Woman (Crystal Waters song)

text: The accompanying music video for "Gypsy Woman" was directed by American film director, writer, and producer Mark Pellington. It shows Waters performing in front of a white background. In most of the video, she wears a black suit, but some scenes also show her wearing a white suit. Three men in blue, green and red shirts are dancing. Occasionally a "gypsy woman", wearing a theater mask and gold gloves, can be seen holding a handheld mirror while putting on lipstick, dancing under a street light or lying on a park bench. Throughout the video, there are shots of rotating playhouses, falling banknotes, mannequin hands hanging in threads, and spinning umbrellas, some with the chorus written on them, making the words spin with them. A short glimpse of a burning dollhouse appears, and as Waters sings the last stanzas, the screen goes completely white again.


title: Gypsy Woman (Crystal Waters song)

text: The music video uses the edited version of the Basement Boys "Strip To The Bone" mix. It was later published on Waters' official YouTube channel in October 2009. The video has amassed more than 53.3 million views as of September 2021.


title: Gypsy Woman (Crystal Waters song)

text: "Pitchfork" featured it on their lists of The 30 Best House Tracks of the ’90s and The 250 Best Songs of the 1990s in 2022.


title: Grant Bowler

text: Grant Bowler (born 18 July 1968) is a New Zealand-Australian actor and television presenter who has worked in American, Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian film, television, and theatre.


title: Grant Bowler

text: He is known for playing the role of Constable Wayne Patterson in "Blue Heelers" and Wolfgang West in "Outrageous Fortune". He also appeared as Wilhelmina Slater's love interest Connor Owens in "Ugly Betty". He starred as Joshua Nolan on the Syfy television series "Defiance".


title: Grant Bowler

text: As a presenter, he is best known for hosting reality game shows – including "The Mole Australia" and "The Amazing Race Australia", both airing on the Seven Network.


title: Grant Bowler

text: Bowler has been the voiceover for "" for the Seven Network since 2004. He has also provided the voiceover for the and the American version of the show when those version screen in Australia & New Zealand as "Border Security: International", which often air on 7two.


title: Grant Bowler

text: Bowler was born in Auckland, New Zealand, but moved to Australia when he was young, and was raised in Brisbane.


title: Grant Bowler

text: In 2011, he separated from his wife of nine years, Australian actress Roxane Wilson, with whom he has two children.


title: Grant Bowler

text: Bowler is a graduate of the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney, alongside other graduates including Mel Gibson, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Baz Luhrmann, and Sam Worthington.


title: Grant Bowler

text: He worked extensively in theatre with the Bell Shakespeare Company touring with the original company founded by John Bell.


title: Grant Bowler

text: His first television role was as Constable Wayne Patterson on "Blue Heelers", from 1993 to 1996. After leaving that show, he spent time on "Pacific Drive" in 1996 and "Medivac" from 1996 to 1998. He had recurring roles on "Always Greener" and "Stingers", starred in the television adaptation of "On the Beach", spent a year on the ABC series "Something in the Air", and starred in the 2004 miniseries "Through My Eyes" about the disappearance of Azaria Chamberlain. Bowler had a recurring role on "All Saints" from 2004 to 2005.


title: Grant Bowler

text: Bowler also hosted the Australian version of "The Mole", hosting the show from 2000 to 2003. He was replaced as host on the 2005 series by Tom Williams because of family commitments and hosting duties with "".


title: Grant Bowler

text: Bowler serves as the narrator of the reality show "", a duty which he began as host in 2004, though he stopped appearing on camera after the first season. Bowler starred in the New Zealand series "Outrageous Fortune". Bowler's acting career has developed since he first began playing Wolf, but although the character is not in every episode, he has turned down other roles to continue in "Outrageous Fortune".


title: Grant Bowler

text: Starting with the season four episode "Ji Yeon", Bowler plays the guest role of Captain Gault, the captain of a freighter on the popular American television series "Lost".


title: Grant Bowler

text: In 2008, he became a recurring regular on "Ugly Betty", in which he played the corrupt CFO of Meade Publications (Connor Owens) who romanced the series' main villain Wilhelmina Slater. Bowler said of his character, "He's got a lot of evil secrets." In December 2009, he was cast in the role of Cooter, a werewolf, in the HBO urban fantasy series "True Blood", for that show's third season.


title: Grant Bowler

text: In late 2010, he was announced as the host of Seven Network's "The Amazing Race Australia" and hosted the show for 3 seasons. He did not return to host for the 2019 Network 10 revival of the series, being replaced by Beau Ryan.


title: Grant Bowler

text: He played Hank Rearden in "" (2011), the first part of a planned three-part film adaptation of Ayn Rand's novel of the same name. He was also seen in 2011 in "The City of Gardens", as well as the film "Killer Elite".


title: Grant Bowler

text: In 2012, Bowler was cast as Richard Burton opposite Lindsay Lohan as Elizabeth Taylor in the biographical TV-movie "Liz & Dick" for Lifetime in the US.


title: Grant Bowler

text: He was seen in the war drama "Gallipoli", released in 2015 on Channel 9, Australia. Bowler was also seen in the psychological action film "Swelter", alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme and Alfred Molina, in the sci-fi thriller "400 Days" with Brandon Routh and Dane Cook, "Lucky Dog" with Amy Smart, and the family movie, "Zooey to the Max".


title: Grant Bowler

text: In 2020, Bowler appeared in a recurring role in "The Baker and the Beauty" playing the Australian father of lead character Noa Hamilton, played by Nathalie Kelley.


title: GlTF

text: glTF is a standard file format for three-dimensional scenes and models. A glTF file uses one of two possible file extensions: .gltf (JSON/ASCII) or .glb (binary). Both .gltf and .glb files may reference external binary and texture resources. Alternatively, both formats may be self-contained by directly embedding binary data buffers (as base64-encoded strings in .gltf files or as raw byte arrays in .glb files). An open standard developed and maintained by the Khronos Group, it supports 3D model geometry, appearance, scene graph hierarchy, and animation. It is intended to be a streamlined, interoperable format for the delivery of 3D assets, while minimizing file size and runtime processing by apps. As such, its creators have described it as the "JPEG of 3D."


title: GlTF

text: The file format was conceived in 2012 by members of the COLLADA working group. At SIGGRAPH 2012, Khronos presented a demo of glTF, which was then called WebGL Transmissions Format (WebGL TF). On October 19, 2015, the glTF 1.0 specification was released.


title: GlTF

text: At SIGGRAPH 2016, Oculus announced their adoption of glTF citing the similarities to their ovrscene format. In October 2016, Microsoft joined the 3D Formats working group at Khronos to collaborate on glTF.


title: GlTF

text: The second version, glTF 2.0, was released in June 2017, and is a complete overhaul of the file format from version 1.0, with most tools adopting the 2.0 version. Based on a proposal by Fraunhofer originally presented at SIGGRAPH 2016, Physically based rendering (PBR) was added, replacing WebGL shaders used in glTF 1.0. Other upgrades include sparse accessors and morph targets for techniques such as facial animation, and schema tweaks and breaking changes for corner cases or performance such as replacing top-level glTF object properties with arrays for faster index-based access. There is ongoing work towards import and export in Unity and an integrated multi-engine viewer / validator.


title: GlTF

text: On March 3, 2017, Microsoft announced that they will be using glTF 2.0 as the 3D asset format across their product line, including Paint 3D, 3D Viewer, Remix 3D, Babylon.js, and Microsoft Office. Sketchfab also announced support for glTF 2.0. As of 2019, the glTF and GLB formats are used on and supported by companies including DGG, UX3D, Sketchfab, Facebook, Microsoft, Oculus, Google, Adobe, Box, TurboSquid, Unreal Engine and Qt Quick 3D. The format has been noted as an important standard for augmented reality, integrating with modeling software such as Autodesk Maya, Autodesk 3ds Max, and Poly.


title: GlTF

text: In February 2020, the Smithsonian Institution launched their Open Access Initiative, releasing approximately 2.8 million 2D images and 3D models into the public domain, delivering the 3D models in glTF.


title: GlTF

text: In July 2022, glTF 2.0 was released as the ISO/IEC 12113:2022 International Standard. Khronos stated they will make regular submissions to bring updates and new widely adopted glTF functionality into refreshed versions of ISO/IEC 12113 to ensure that there is no long-term divergence between the ISO/IEC and Khronos specifications.


title: GlTF

text: A glTF file uses either a .gltf or .glb extension. PBR extensions model the physical properties of real-world objects, allowing developers to create realistic 3D assets that correspond to the actual materials in the object. As new PBR extensions are released, they continue to expand PBR capabilities within the glTF framework, allowing a wider range of scenes and objects to be realistically rendered as 3D assets.


title: GlTF

text: The KTX 2.0 extension for universal texture compression enables 3D models in the glTF format to be highly compressed and to use natively supported texture formats, reducing file size and boosting rendering speed.


title: GlTF

text: Draco is a glTF extension for mesh compression, to compress and decompress 3D meshes, to help reduce the size of 3D files. It compresses vertex attributes, normals, colors, and texture coordinates.


title: GlTF

text: The GLB file format is a binary form of glTF that includes textures instead of referencing them as external images. GLB was introduced as an extension to glTF 1.0 and incorporated directly into glTF 2.0.


title: GlTF

text: On August 10, 2015, 3D Tiles, now a proposed OGC Community Standard, built on glTF to add a spatial data structure, metadata, and declarative styling for streaming massive heterogeneous 3D geospatial datasets. VRM, a model format for VR, is built on the .glb format. It is a 3D humanoid avatar specification and file format.


title: GlTF

text: The glTF Sample Viewer is maintained by Khronos, as part of the glTF ecosystem, along with the Validator, which validates glTF assets.


title: GlTF

text: glTF loaders are in open-source WebGL engines including PlayCanvas, Three.js, Babylon.js, Cesium, PEX, xeogl, and A-Frame. The Godot game engine also supports and recommends the glTF format.


title: GlTF

text: Open-source glTF converters are available from COLLADA, FBX, and OBJ. Assimp can import and export glTF.


title: GlTF

text: glTF files can also be directly exported from a variety of 3D editors, such as Blender, Vectary, Autodesk 3ds Max (natively or using Verge3D exporter), Autodesk Maya (using babylon.js exporter), Autodesk Inventor, Modo, Houdini, Paint 3D, and Substance Painter.


title: GlTF

text: Open-source glTF utility libraries are available for programming languages including JavaScript, Node.js, C++, C#, Java, Go, Rust, Haxe, Ada, and TypeScript.


title: GlTF

text: 3D Commerce, a working group of universal guidelines, standards and certifications for 3D content creation and distribution in e-commerce, incorporates glTF for transmission of photorealistic 3D assets. In June 2021, the 3D Commerce viewer certification program was launched, enabling 3D viewers to demonstrate they can accurately and reliably display 3D products using the glTF file format. 3D Commerce's asset guidelines, released in 2020, include best practices for use of the glTF file format in 3D Commerce.


title: Stellaria media

text: Stellaria media, chickweed, is an annual and perennial flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae. It is native to Eurasia and naturalized throughout the world. This species is used as a cooling herbal remedy, and grown as a vegetable crop and ground cover for both human and poultry consumption. It is sometimes called common chickweed to distinguish it from other plants called chickweed. Other common names include chickenwort, craches, maruns, and winterweed. The plant germinates in autumn or late winter, then forms large mats of foliage.


title: Stellaria media

text: This species is an annual in colder climates, becoming evergreen and perennial in warmer zones, with weak slender stems, up to . Plants are sparsely hairy. "Stellaria media" has one line of fine hairs on the stem. The leaves are oval and opposite, the lower ones with stalks. Flowers are white and small with five very deeply lobed petals. Some plants have no petals. There are usually three stamens and three styles. The flowers quickly form capsules. Plants may have flowers and capsules at the same time.


title: Stellaria media

text: Plants in the genus "Cerastium" are very similar in appearance to those of "Stellaria", and are in the same family (Caryophyllaceae) but have hairs uniformly covering their stems.


title: Stellaria media

text: "Stellaria media" is widespread in Asia, Europe, North America, and other parts of the world. There are several closely related plants referred to as chickweed, but which lack the culinary properties of plants in the genus "Stellaria."


title: Stellaria media

text: The larvae of the European moth yellow shell ("Camptogramma bilineata"), of North American moths pale-banded dart ("Agnorisma badinodis") or dusky cutworm ("Agrotis venerabilis"), or North American butterfly dainty sulphur ("Nathalis iole") all feed on chickweed. It is susceptible to downy mildew caused by the oomycete species "Peronospora alsinearum".


title: Stellaria media

text: In both Europe and North America this plant is common in gardens, fields, and disturbed grounds where it grows as a ground cover.


title: Stellaria media

text: "Stellaria media" is edible and nutritious, and is used as a leaf vegetable, often raw in salads. It is one of the ingredients of the symbolic dish consumed in the Japanese spring-time festival, "Nanakusa-no-sekku". Some varieties or similar species may be too fibrous to eat.


title: Stellaria media

text: "Stellaria media" contains plant chemicals known as saponins, which can be toxic to some species (notably fish). It is unlikely that most land animals will be affected, as the quantities involved are not large. However, it is not advised for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers.


title: Stellaria media

text: The plant has medicinal properties and is used in folk medicine. It has been used as a remedy to treat itchy skin conditions and pulmonary diseases. 17th-century herbalist John Gerard recommended it as a remedy for mange. Modern herbalists prescribe it for iron-deficiency anemia (for its high iron content), as well as for skin diseases, bronchitis, rheumatic pains, arthritis, and period pain. Not all of these uses are supported by scientific evidence. The plant was used by the Ainu for treating bruises and aching bones. Stems were steeped in hot water before being applied externally to affected areas.


title: Stellaria media

text: The anthraquinones emodin, parietin (physcion) and questin, the flavonoid kaempferol-3,7-O-α-L-dirhamnoside, the phytosterols β-sitosterol and daucosterol, and the fatty alcohol 1-hexacosanol can be found in "S. media". Other flavonoid constituents are apigenin 6-C-beta-D-galactopyranosyl-8-C-alpha-L-arabinopyranoside, apigenin 6-C-alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl-8-C-beta-D-galactopyranoside, apigenin 6-C-beta-D-galactopyranosyl-8-C-beta-L-arabinopyranoside, apigenin 6-C-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-8-C-beta-D-galactopyranoside, apigenin 6, 8-di-C-alpha-L-arabinopyranoside. The plant also contains triterpenoid saponins of the hydroxylated oleanolic acid type. Proanthocyanidins are present in the testa of seeds.


title: Stellaria media

text: "Stellaria" is derived from the word 'stellar' meaning 'star', which is a reference to the shape of its flowers. "Media" is derived from Latin and means 'between', 'intermediate', or 'mid-sized'.


title: Faust (opera)

text: Faust is an opera in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play "Faust et Marguerite", in turn loosely based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's "Faust, Part One". It debuted at the Théâtre Lyrique on the Boulevard du Temple in Paris on 19 March 1859, with influential sets designed by Charles-Antoine Cambon and Joseph Thierry, Jean Émile Daran, Édouard Desplechin, and Philippe Chaperon.


title: Faust (opera)

text: The original version of Faust employed spoken dialogue, and it was in this form that the work was first performed. The manager of the Théâtre Lyrique, Léon Carvalho cast his wife Caroline Miolan-Carvalho as Marguerite and there were various changes during production, including the removal and contraction of several numbers. The tenor Hector Gruyer was originally cast as Faust but was found to be inadequate during rehearsals, being eventually replaced by a principal of the Opéra-Comique, Joseph-Théodore-Désiré Barbot, shortly before the opening night.


title: Faust (opera)

text: After a successful initial run at the Théâtre Lyrique the publisher Antoine Choudens, who purchased the copyright for 10,000 francs, took the work (now with recitatives replacing the spoken dialogue) on tour through Germany, Belgium, Italy and England, with Caroline Miolan-Carvalho repeating her role.


title: Faust (opera)

text: Performances in Germany followed, with Dresden Semperoper in 1861 being the first to bill the work as "Margarethe" rather than "Faust". For many years this custom – or alternatively, staging the opera as "Gretchen" – continued in Germany. Some sources claim this was out of respect for part 1 of Goethe's poetic drama, which the opera follows closely. Others claim the opposite: that the retitling was done to emphasise Gounod's opera's reliance on Goethe's characters, and to differentiate it from Louis Spohr's "Faust", which had held the stage for many years in Germany and had recently appeared (1851) in a three-act revision. It is also possible that the 1861 Dresden title change was out of respect for Spohr's close and long association with the city.


title: Faust (opera)

text: The opera was given for the first time in Italy at La Scala in 1862 and in England at Her Majesty's Theatre, London (in Italian) in 1863. In 1864, when the opera was given at the same venue in English, Gounod took a theme from the prelude to the opera and wrote a new aria for the star baritone Charles Santley in the role of Valentin, 'Even bravest heart may swell' (with words by Henry Chorley). This number was then translated into French for subsequent productions as "Avant de quitter ces lieux" and has become one of the most familiar pieces from the opera.


title: Faust (opera)

text: In 1869 a ballet had to be inserted (into the first scene of the final act) before the work could be played at the Opéra: it became the most frequently performed opera at that house. With the change from spoken dialogue to sung recitatives, plus the musical and balletic additions, the opera was thus finally transformed into a work following the conventions of grand opera.


title: Faust (opera)

text: It was "Faust" with which the Metropolitan Opera in New York City opened for the first time on 22 October 1883. It is the eighth most frequently performed opera there, with 753 performances through the 2012–2013 season. It was not until the period between 1965 and 1977 that the full version was performed (and then with some minor cuts), and all performances in that production included the "Walpurgisnacht" ballet.


title: Faust (opera)

text: A recording was made in 2018 of the 1859 version, by Les Talens Lyriques conducted by Christophe Rousset, which endeavoured to present the opera as first performed at the Théâtre Lyrique "closer in kinship to the traditional opéra comique in its interleaving of musical numbers with spoken passages". The recording, produced by Bru Zane, featured Véronique Gens, Benjamin Bernheim and Andrew Foster-Williams in principal roles.


title: Faust (opera)

text: Faust, an aging scholar, determines that his studies have come to nothing and have only caused him to miss out on life and love ("Rien! En vain j'interroge"). He attempts to kill himself (twice) with poison but stops each time when he hears a choir. He curses hope and faith, and asks for infernal guidance. Méphistophélès appears (duet: "Me voici") and, with a tempting image of Marguerite at her spinning wheel, persuades Faust to buy Méphistophélès's services on Earth in exchange for Faust's in Hell. Faust's goblet of poison is magically transformed into an elixir of youth, making the aged doctor a handsome young gentleman; the strange companions then set out into the world.


title: Faust (opera)

text: A chorus of students, soldiers and villagers sings a drinking song ("Vin ou Bière"). Valentin, leaving for war with his friend Wagner, entrusts the care of his sister Marguerite to his youthful friend Siébel ("O sainte médaille ... Avant de quitter ces lieux"). Méphistophélès appears, provides the crowd with wine, and sings a rousing, irreverent song about the golden calf ("Le veau d'or"). Méphistophélès predicts Wagner will not return from the war and maligns Marguerite, and Valentin tries to strike him with his sword, which shatters in the air. Valentin and friends use the cross-shaped hilts of their swords to fend off what they now know is an infernal power (chorus: "De l'enfer"). Méphistophélès is joined by Faust and the villagers in a waltz ("Ainsi que la brise légère"). Marguerite appears and Faust declares his admiration, but she refuses Faust's arm out of modesty, a quality that makes him love her even more.


title: Faust (opera)

text: The lovesick boy Siébel leaves a bouquet for Marguerite ("Faites-lui mes aveux"). Faust sends Méphistophélès in search of a gift for Marguerite and sings a cavatina ("Salut, demeure chaste et pure") idealizing Marguerite as a pure child of nature. Méphistophélès brings in a decorated box containing exquisite jewelry and a hand mirror and leaves it on Marguerite's doorstep, next to Siébel's flowers. Marguerite enters, pondering her encounter with Faust at the city gates, and sings a melancholy ballad about the King of Thule ("Il était un roi de Thulé"). Marthe, Marguerite's neighbour, notices the jewellery and says it must be from an admirer. Marguerite tries on the jewels and is captivated by how they enhance her beauty, as she sings in the famous aria, the Jewel Song ("Oh dieu! Que de bijoux ... Ah! je ris de me voir si belle en ce miroir"). Méphistophélès and Faust join the women in the garden and romance them. Marguerite allows Faust to kiss her ("Laisse-moi, laisse-moi contempler ton visage"), but then asks him to go away. She sings at her window for his quick return, and Faust, listening, returns to her. Under the watchful eye and malevolent laughter of Méphistophélès, it is clear that Faust's seduction of Marguerite will be successful.


title: Faust (opera)

text: [Note: The scenes of act 4 are sometimes given in a different order and portions are sometimes shortened or cut in performance.]


title: Faust (opera)

text: After being made pregnant and seemingly abandoned by Faust, Marguerite has given birth and is a social outcast. She sings an aria at her spinning wheel ("Il ne revient pas"). Siébel stands by her. The scene shifts to the square outside Marguerite's house. Valentin's company returns from the war to a military march ("Déposons les armes" and "Gloire immortelle de nos aïeux", the well-known "soldiers' chorus"). Siébel asks Valentin to forgive Marguerite. Valentin rushes to her cottage. While he is inside Faust and Méphistophélès appear, and Méphistophélès, knowing that Marguerite is not in there alone, sings a mocking burlesque of a lover's serenade under Marguerite's window ("Vous qui faites l'endormie"). Valentin takes the bait and comes out of the cottage, now knowing that Faust has debauched his sister. The two men fight, but Faust is reluctant to hurt the brother of the woman he adores. Méphistophélès blocks Valentin's sword, allowing Faust to make the fatal thrust. With his dying breath Valentin blames Marguerite for his death and condemns her to Hell before the assembled townspeople ("Ecoute-moi bien Marguerite"). Marguerite goes to the church and tries to pray there but is stopped, first by the sadistic Méphistophélès and then by a choir of devils. She finishes her prayer but faints when she is cursed again by Méphistophélès.


title: Faust (opera)

text: Méphistophélès and Faust are surrounded by witches ("Un, deux et trois"). Faust is transported to a cave of queens and courtesans, and Méphistophélès promises to provide Faust with the love of the greatest and most beautiful women in history. An orgiastic ballet suggests the revelry that continues throughout the night. As dawn approaches, Faust sees a vision of Marguerite and calls for her. Méphistophélès helps Faust enter the prison where Marguerite is being held for killing her child. They sing a love duet ("Oui, c'est toi que j'aime"). Méphistophélès states that only a mortal hand can deliver Marguerite from her fate, and Faust offers to rescue her from the hangman, but she prefers to trust her fate to God and His angels ("Anges purs, anges radieux"). At the end she asks why Faust's hands are covered in blood, pushes him away, and falls down motionless. Méphistophélès curses, as a voice on high sings "Sauvée!" ("Saved!"). The bells of Easter sound and a chorus of angels sings "Christ est ressuscité!" ('"Christ is risen!"). The walls of the prison open, and Marguerite's soul rises to heaven. In despair Faust follows it with his eyes; he falls to his knees and prays. Méphistophélès is turned away by the shining sword of the archangel.


title: Faust (opera)

text: Although the Walpurgisnacht ballet sequence from act 5 is usually omitted from modern staged performances of "Faust", it is frequently performed separately as a concert work or part of a ballet program, e.g. George Balanchine's "Walpurgisnacht Ballet".


title: Ola Ray

text: Ola Ray (born August 26, 1960) is an American actress and model most notable for her role as the girlfriend of Michael Jackson in the music video "Thriller".


title: Ola Ray

text: Ray complained in the past about difficulties collecting royalties from her participation in "Thriller". At first, Ray blamed Michael Jackson. She ultimately sued Jackson in May 2009 in a dispute to obtain uncollected royalties. Jackson died less than two months later on June 25 at age 50, after suffering cardiac arrest. In 2012, the Estate of Michael Jackson settled the lawsuit.


title: Kalani Hilliker

text: Kalani Brooke Hilliker (born September 23, 2000) is an American dancer and actress. She rose to fame in 2013 as a contestant on the Lifetime reality series "Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition" and subsequently appeared on "Dance Moms", becoming a regular cast member from 2014 to 2017.


title: Kalani Hilliker

text: Hilliker was born on September 23, 2000 in Mesa, Arizona to Kira Girard (née Salazar) and Matthew Hilliker. She has two younger half-brothers, Jax and Jett, and one younger half-sister, Kaliah—all of whom are through her mother. In October 2019, Hilliker moved to Los Angeles. However, in January 2021, she announced on her YouTube channel that she left L.A., and now lives in Scottsdale, Arizona. Hilliker started dancing at the age of two. Her mother initially enrolled her in dance classes because she thought it would be fun to dress her daughter up. Hilliker started training at Club Dance in Mesa at age 5. As a child, she was an avid soccer player, but decided to pursue dance more committedly around age 9 and got an agent. She began ballet training at the Master Ballet Academy in Arizona at the age of 10. In 2011, Hilliker and several of her dance friends entered Disney Channel's "Make Your Mark Ultimate Dance Off" contest, vying for the prize of a featured role on the hit show "Shake It Up". Her group, AKsquared, won the competition, and was featured in the "Shake It Up" episode "Camp It Up." She aspired at this time to be a backup dancer for Katy Perry or Beyonce. In 2013, Hilliker became a series dance regular on the ABC Family show "Bunheads", appearing in multiple episodes as Baby Bun. That same year, she took part in Lifetime's "Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition", a dance reality competition series. Hilliker made it to the final four, finishing in fourth place. Following her top four finish, Hilliker and her mother were invited by Abby Lee Miller to join the cast of "Dance Moms" and to replace Brooke and Paige Hyland on the Abby Lee Dance Company team. They first appeared in the season four episode "Big Trouble in the Big Apple." While originally brought on as a guest dancer and after several weeks with the ALDC in season 4, Hilliker became a permanent member of the team at the beginning of the competition season during season five. She danced as part of the ALDC until the second half of the seventh season, when she left to form "The Irreplaceables" with Nia Frazier, Kendall Vertes, Chloe Lukasiak, and Camryn Bridges, which was led by "Dancing with the Stars" alum Cheryl Burke. Following the season finale, she left the show entirely. In December 2017, after the seventh season of "Dance Moms" wrapped, Hilliker, Kendall, Chloe, and Nia started The Irreplaceables Tour, holding workshops and dancing in cities across North America and abroad. In 2018, she began starring on the web series "Dirt". Hilliker has placed in the top three at The Dance Awards for six years, winning Junior Female Best Dancer in 2013. Currently, Hilliker has a sock line called "Pretty Feet by Kalani", which is sold at Claire's. She also has a prom dress collection, which she helped design in partnership with PromGirl.


title: Kalani Hilliker

text: In July 2020, Hilliker was photographed with a Blue Lives Matter flag. Then, in November 2020, she publicly announced that she would be supporting Donald Trump's presidential campaign in the 2020 United States presidential election.


title: Seal Team (film)

text: Seal Team is a 2021 South African computer-animated action comedy film co-directed by Greig Cameron and Kane Croudace, produced by Triggerfish Animation Studios and Cinema Management Group oversees worldwide distribution. The film stars the voices of J.K. Simmons, Jessie T. Usher, Matthew Rhys, Patrick Warburton, Kristen Schaal, Sharlto Copley, John Kani, Dolph Lundgren, and Seal. It tells the story of a group of misfit Cape Fur Seals who come together to fight a gang of ruthless sharks.


title: Seal Team (film)

text: The film was released in cinemas in the Netherlands on 13 October 2021, followed by Belgium in 27 October, Czech Republic one day later, and in West Asian Arab countries on 4 November. Netflix acquired the rights for the film for release on 31 December 2021 in many other territories.


title: Seal Team (film)

text: During the 1980s, near the Cape of Storms, an animal military unit called H.M.M.F. (Hydro Marine Military Force), consisting of two African cape fur seals: veteran Claggart & tech genius Switch, & a celebrity striped dolphin named Dolph, are tasked by their human superiors with trying to defuse an underwater mine. Due to a seal's color-blindness, Claggart ends up cutting the wrong wire, & the mine immediately blows up once hauled onto their ship, the Good Boy. This causes a portion of the ship to be destroyed & the ship to wrecked on a rock, while the H.M.M.F. all survive unscathed, though Claggart loses his name tags which drifts off to rest near Seal Island, an island endlessly full of seals. Over time, the now retired H.M.M.F. drift apart: Claggart stays behind on the wreck of the Good Boy, Switch goes insane & lives on his own wreck that he turns into a lab with his imaginary friend, Senior Echo (which is in fact his echo, though he sometimes speaks without Switch talking out loud), & Dolph goes into show business in his own popular superhero show titled: Dial Eck-Eck-Eck-Eck For Action.


title: Seal Team (film)

text: In the present day, Claggart's name tag is found by a bold cape fur seal named Quinn & his nervous best friend Benji while hunting for fish, before they are chased off by sharks, whom their community lives in fear of, but their fear is always scoffed at by their elder leader, Brick. Due to the shortage of food, the seals are all forced to eat bad-tasting barnacles while having to wait for the annual sardine run. After retrieving the name tag, Quinn & Benji both share each of the name tags, & go out at night to search for food amongst the human shipwrecks with no luck, & run afoul of a great white shark named Grimes & his remora associates, who tries to eat them. Quinn manages to survive by hiding in the wreck, & calls for Benji to join him, but learns he has been eaten by Grimes after seeing his part of the name tag snagged on his teeth, who then goes for him next, but Quinn is then saved by an elderly Claggart, who drives off Grimes & brings him back to the surface & reclaims his name tag before leaving Quinn. After he comes to, he's found by three cape gannets named Diving Dee, Roger, & Mayday, who has been trying to eat a starfish that's been stuck in her mouth for years, who guide him to the wreck of the Good Boy, where Quinn insist Claggart into teaching him how to fight a shark, which he had experienced him do that to Grimes before he passed out, so he can avenge Benji's death.


title: Seal Team (film)

text: After some advice by Claggart to assemble a team in order to accomplish his goal, he returns to Seal Island, where he recruits the energetic but eccentric Beth, who prefers & suggests to licking rocks rather than eat barnacles, & the boastful yet cowardly Great Geraldo, who keeps telling everyone that comes his way about escaping an aquarium in Cape Town, but had to leave behind his Asian cape fur seal girlfriend, Magnificent Jing. They arrive at the Good Boy where Claggart teaches them the skills they need to fight sharks & eventually they pass the final exam. Later that night, after being convinced by Quinn, Claggart takes them to Switch's wreck, where he accepts the offer to join them & shows off his latest biotech weapons to help them, including snapping clam grenades, electric eel bolts, pufferfish mines, stolen synchronized watches (Geraldo instead gets a toy watch), fighting barracuda bazookas, pistol shrimps(that shoots an ion blast of knockout gas when used), & a group of octopuses all named Flicka, who can all turn into a suit that makes anyone invisible. With their training & new weapons, they successfully take down a shark. Two onlooking sharks see this, & report to Grimes, who decides to make an example of them by using his remoras to summon all the sharks in the world, including the one that Quinn & his friends trapped, & orders them to surround Seal Island.


title: Seal Team (film)

text: The gannets tell the group of the situation, so Switch suggests using his special formula chum to hypnotize the sharks & lure them away from Seal Island, so they go to Cape Town to retrieve a boat in order to install the chum. Once there, Geraldo reunites with Jing, who forces him to reveal that escaping the aquarium was Jing's idea & she escaped & left him behind due to the fact that he couldn't go through with it, & he was thrown out instead of escaping. After some convincing, Jing joins the team, & they acquire a boat & head back to Seal Island, where they use the chum to lure the sharks away from Seal Island & use the advantage to bombard the sharks with their weapons, distracting them & causing them to smash them into a rock. When the shark they fought attacks their boat, it crashes into a crevice where one of Grimes' remoras gets separated from the shark & take it hostage where they learn from it that surrounding Seal Island was a distraction to keep them busy while Grimes was gathering more shark forces. Geraldo & Jing stay behind to distract the sharks surrounding the boat wreck by tricking them with a play with fake replicas, in which they amend their ways before joining the others near Grimes' wreck to learn his true intentions.


title: Seal Team (film)

text: With the help of Flicka, Quinn goes undercover & learns that Grimes is planning to lead an endless population of sharks to attack the Seal Island population on their south to the upcoming annual sardine run. However, Quinn's cover is compromised after Flicka's effects wear off but orders Flicka to activate their countermeasures who do it by covering the entire area of squid ink. In the commotion, Claggart abandons the others to keep the sharks busy, while the others escape. After arriving on the Good Boy, Quinn leaves for Seal Island, as he no longer wants to endanger his friends, but once he arrives, he learns all the seals have gone for the sardine run, & he confronts Brick for mindlessly endangering them, but then the latter regrets that he already knows about sharks, & pretends to believe that sharks aren't real, because even though some seals won't come back, the community will survive, before leaving with the rest of the seals. Knowing that their fate is in his hands, Quinn returns to the Good Boy, & reassembles the team to take down Grimes once & for all.


title: Seal Team (film)

text: They arrive at Grime's wreck by sneaking inside the mouth of Dave, a goofy looking, loud-mouthed basking shark whom they frequently encounter. Once there, they assault all the sharks with ambushes, but Grimes appears & traps them in a container, before he joins the other sharks to eat the seals, which have already arrived. The group eventually escape, & manage to protect all the seals, who also lose their fear & join in the fight, along with Brick. They are also joined by Claggart, who is revealed to be alive & had gone to recruit Dolph for the team, who both restart the Good Boy, allowing a chance for the seals to escape on board. Grimes pounces onto the ship & snags Claggart's name tag on Quinn with the other name tag snagged on his tooth, resulting in a tug-of-war, but Quinn breaks free & retrieves both name tags while Grimes loses his balance, falls back into the sea, & is then killed & mauled by the Good Boy's propeller. With Grimes dead, the entire seal colony head for the sardine run on board the Good Boy.


title: Seal Team (film)

text: Months later, Quinn & his friends have hauled the Good Boy to Seal Island as their new base, where the residents of Seal Island now honor them as heroes, & they, along with the gannets & Dave, keep the island safe from any seal-eating shark that comes by.


title: Seal Team (film)

text: In a series of mid-credits scenes, Dave is seen as a caller on a talk show radio station, where continuously talks about the many objects he accidentally ate other than plankton to prove that not all sharks are dangerous.


title: Seal Team (film)

text: In May 2018, it was announced Triggerfish Animation Studios would produce "Seal Team" as their third feature film. The film was being financed by South Africa's Industrial Development Corporation, the Dept. of Trade and Industry (DTI), and Cinema Management Group (CMG).


title: Seal Team (film)

text: While the film was fully created at Triggerfish studios in Cape Town, some of the animation was outsourced to Base FX in Beijing and Johannesburg's Chocolate Tribe handled a portion of the rigging using Maya's mGear and Python tools to give the characters a stop-motion look on the movements.


title: Seal Team (film)

text: Dolph Lundgren and Matthew Rhys joined the voice cast in May 2021, Rhys once mentioned that why he wanted to voice Grimes is because he has a 4-year-old son that is obesessed with sharks.


title: Seal Team (film)

text: "The New York Times" gave it a negative review, claiming "the best cackle comes from reading the voice cameos in the end credits".


title: Seal Team (film)

text: In contrast, Decider's verdict was 'Stream It.' They said, "Seal Team has laughs a-plenty and a sense of good natured camaraderie in its heart..." not to mention "inspired voice casting" and "the kind of sight gags that look beyond cartoon kids' fare."


title: Seal Team (film)

text: Common Sense Media recommended it for ages six and older, saying "Though it doesn't have the big-name studios behind it, this movie holds its own in the animation and voice acting categories... You can't help but root for the seals."


title: Seal Team (film)

text: The SA animation film "Seal Team" topped the top 10 list of the most-watched shows on Netflix in five continents and 27 countries.


title: Thunder River Rapids Ride

text: The Thunder River Rapids Ride was a river rapid type water ride located in the Town of Gold Rush section of the Dreamworld theme park on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.


title: Thunder River Rapids Ride

text: After four riders were killed on it in late October 2016, the ride was closed. On 9 November 2016, Ardent Leisures' CEO announced that the ride would not reopen, and was to be demolished. In October 2017, police recommended that no criminal charges be laid against any person in relation to the deaths.


title: Thunder River Rapids Ride

text: Gold Rush Country (now known as the Town of Gold Rush) opened on 11 December 1986. The area featured the Eureka Mountain Mine Ride and the Thunder River Rapids Ride. Although resembling an Intamin River rapids ride, Thunder River Rapids was neither built nor supplied by Intamin. A Sydney-based company was commissioned to supply the vessels in 1983. The Thunder River Rapids Ride was among the most popular rides at Dreamworld until its closure.


title: Thunder River Rapids Ride

text: At the time of closure, Thunder River Rapids Ride was one of Dreamworld’s nine family rides alongside Dreamworld Express, Escape from Madagascar, Gingy’s Glider, MAD Jungle Jam, Rocky Hollow Log Ride, Shockwave, Skadoosh Bumper Cars, Vintage Car Adventure. The ride consisted of several circular rafts which can carry up to 6 riders each.


title: Thunder River Rapids Ride

text: The ride was long and had a maximum speed of . An entire cycle on the Thunder River Rapids Ride lasted approximately 4 minutes.


title: Thunder River Rapids Ride

text: Riders entered a long indoor queue with several switchbacks. The queue then bridged across part of the ride's water storage area before reaching the circular station. This station originally featured a rotating platform which allowed riders to mount and dismount the boats without the need for the boats to stop.


title: Thunder River Rapids Ride

text: Riders would board one of several six-person circular rafts. The raft was dispatched and the riders travelled back past the ride's queue and into a cave. Upon exiting the cave, riders experienced the main rapids section of the ride. This section ran alongside a large water catchment which contained the water storage for the Thunder River Rapids Ride. The raft then went under the Eureka Mountain Mine Ride's station and headed back towards its own station. Before departing the ride, guests were brought back up to the level of the station by a conveyor belt.


title: Thunder River Rapids Ride

text: On 25 October 2016, a malfunction of the Thunder River Rapids Ride resulted in the deaths of four people. This is regarded as the worst accident at an Australian theme park since the 1979 Sydney Ghost Train fire at Luna Park Sydney. Due to the failure of one of the two large water pumps essential for the ride's operation, the water level in the ride dropped quickly causing a raft, which was occupied by six guests, to become stranded on support rails near the end of the raft conveyor and unable to reach the unloading area. Approximately one minute later, another raft carrying six passengers moved down the conveyor and collided with the first stranded raft. Both rafts pivoted upwards driven by movement of the conveyor before the first raft fell back to a level position resting on support rails. The second raft was further moved by the conveyor into a vertical position and subsequently caused passengers to either fall out of the raft or become trapped in close proximity to the conveyor mechanism leading to fatal injuries for four passengers. The other two passengers, both children, were able to climb out of the raft, still in its vertical orientation, to nearby platforms once the conveyor had been shut down by ride staff. They were reportedly both physically unharmed however they were sent to hospital and offered counselling.


title: Thunder River Rapids Ride

text: Park operators stopped the ride and started draining the river, over 7 paramedic crews responded to the 000 call along with firefighters and police. The bodies were badly disfigured from crush and compression injuries. The recovery of the bodies went on into the early hours of the next morning with some paramedics requiring counselling due to the trauma of the scene.


title: Thunder River Rapids Ride

text: Dreamworld announced that the park would reopen on 28 October for a special memorial service for the victims. However, the reopening to the public was subject to discussions with Queensland police as the ride was being treated as a crime scene. The 28 October reopening was cancelled on 27 October.


title: Thunder River Rapids Ride

text: Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate offered his condolences to the families of those affected and extended any support financially and emotionally to all those involved. The then Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull offered his condolences and support, releasing a statement via Twitter; "I'm very saddened by the tragedy at Dreamworld today. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families."


title: Thunder River Rapids Ride

text: On 29 October, the Queensland Government announced a 'blitz' of safety inspections, and an audit of state workplace health and safety laws.


title: Thunder River Rapids Ride

text: The Busch Gardens Tampa theme park in Florida, United States shut its Congo River Rapids ride in response to the incident, until the cause was determined. However, it was later reopened on 26 October after a review and safety check was completed.


title: Thunder River Rapids Ride

text: On 9 November, Ardent Leisure chief executive Deborah Thomas announced that the ride would be permanently closed, out of respect to the victims and their families, and that they would be invited to help create a memorial in its place. The ride was later dismantled and the location fenced off.


title: Thunder River Rapids Ride

text: In a report to the Queensland Coroner in October 2017, Police recommended that no criminal charges be laid against any person.


title: Thunder River Rapids Ride

text: The Queensland Coroner, James McDougall, released a report on 24 February 2020 detailing "irresponsible", "dangerous" and "inadequate" safety practices at theme park that contributed to the four deaths, while recommending the Queensland office of industrial relations consider a prosecution. The ride had endured frequent breakdowns in the days leading up to the accident, and had several design and construction issues which contributed.


title: Thunder River Rapids Ride

text: On 21 July 2020, it was announced that three charges had been laid against Ardent Leisure, Dreamworld's parent company. The charges were filed by the Work Health and Safety prosecutor, under the Work Health and Safety Act, at the Brisbane Magistrates Court. The matter was first heard on July 29 in Southport Magistrates Court. On the day before the scheduled trial, on 28 July 2020, Ardent Leisure pleaded guilty in the action. Subsequently, in September 2020, they were fined $3.6m (US$2.8m) for the breach of the Work Health and Safety Act.


title: Thunder River Rapids Ride

text: Thunder River's remaining structures were demolished in 2018. On 23 August 2019, the park announced that a new roller coaster, Steel Taipan, would take its place in 2021 and also consume a portion of the area in use by the former Eureka Mountain Mine Ride. Ardent Leisure reportedly paid out more than $5 million in compensation to the victim’s family as well as to emergency responders and witnesses. A memorial garden for the victims was built near the site of the Thunder River Rapids Ride.


title: Women in Judaism

text: The role of women in Judaism is determined by the Hebrew Bible, the Oral Law (the corpus of rabbinic literature), by custom, and by cultural factors. Although the Hebrew Bible and rabbinic literature mention various female role models, religious law treats women differently in various circumstances. According to a 2017 study by the Pew Research Center, women are slightly more numerous among worldwide Jewish population (52%).


title: Women in Judaism

text: Gender has a bearing on familial lines: In traditional Judaism, Jewishness is passed down through the mother, although the father's name is used to describe sons and daughters in the Torah, e. g., "Dinah, daughter of Jacob".


title: Women in Judaism

text: The status of Levi is only given to a Jewish male descended patrilineally from Levi; likewise a Kohen descends from Aharon, the first Kohen. A Bat-Kohen or Bat-Levi has that status from her Jewish father with the corresponding HaKohen/HaLevi title.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Compared to men, relatively few women are mentioned in the Bible by name and role. Those who are mentioned include the Matriarchs Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah; Miriam the prophetess; Deborah the Judge; Huldah the prophetess; Abigail, who married David; Rahab; and the Persian Jewish queen Esther. A common phenomenon in the Bible is the pivotal role that women take in subverting man-made power structures. The result is often a more just outcome than what would have taken place under ordinary circumstances. Today, many of them are considered foundational by feminists because of the insights they provide into the lives of Jewish women during those times, albeit as notable examples of women who broke the male dominance of historical documentation of the time compared to the poor documentation of most women's lives.


title: Women in Judaism

text: According to Jewish tradition, a covenant was formed between the Israelites and the God of Abraham at Mount Sinai. The Torah relates that both Israelite men and Israelite women were present at Sinai; however, the covenant was worded in such a way that it bound men to act upon its requirements and to ensure that the members of their household (wives, children, and slaves) met these requirements as well. In this sense, the covenant bound women as well, though indirectly.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Marriage and family law in biblical times favored men over women. For example, a husband could divorce a wife if he chose to, but a wife could not divorce a husband without his consent. The practice of levirate marriage applied to widows of childless deceased husbands, not to widowers of childless deceased wives; though, if either he or she did not consent to the marriage, a different ceremony called "chalitza" is done instead, which basically involves the widow's removing her brother-in-law's shoe, spitting in front of him, and proclaiming, "This is what happens to someone who will not build his brother's house!" Laws concerning the loss of female virginity have no male equivalent. Many of these laws, such as levirate marriage, are no longer practiced in Judaism (chalitzah is practiced in lieu of levirate marriage). These and other gender differences found in the Torah suggest that biblical society viewed continuity, property, and family unity as paramount; however, they also suggest that women were subordinate to men during biblical times. Men were required to perform some specific obligations for their wives, but these often reinforced the gendered roles in the culture of the time. These included the provision of clothing, food, and sexual relations to their wives.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Women also had a role in ritual life. Women (as well as men) were required to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem once a year (men each of the three main festivals if they could) and offer the Passover sacrifice. They would also do so on special occasions in their lives such as giving a "todah" ("thanksgiving") offering after childbirth. Hence, they participated in many of the major public religious roles that non-Levitical men could, albeit less often and on a somewhat smaller and generally more discreet scale.


title: Women in Judaism

text: According to Jewish tradition, Michal, the daughter of Saul and David's first wife, accepted the commandments of tefillin and tzitzit although these requirements applied only to men. Many of the mitzvot that applied to men applied to women as well; however, women were usually exempt from positive time-bound commandments (requirements to perform duty at a specific time, as opposed to requirements to perform duty at any time or requirements to abstain from an act). There are two prominent theories about why this is: pragmatism (because the role of women in household duties consumes their time) and spirituality (because according to some traditions, "women have superior inherent spiritual wisdom", known as bina, that makes them less dependent than men on the performance of timely religious practices to retain a strong spiritual connection to God).


title: Women in Judaism

text: Women depended on men economically. Women generally did not own property except in the rare case of inheriting land from a father who did not bear sons. Even "in such cases, women would be required to remarry within the tribe so as not to reduce its land holdings".


title: Women in Judaism

text: Women are required by "halacha" to carry out all negative "mitzvot" (i. e., commandments that prohibit activities such as "Thou shalt not commit adultery"), but they are excused from doing most time-bound, positive "mitzvot" (i. e., commandments that prescribe ritual action that must be done at certain times such as hearing a shofar on Rosh Hashanah). A woman would not, however, be prohibited from doing a "mitzvah" from which she was excused. "Halacha" also provided women with some material and emotional protections related to marriage, and divorce that most non-Jewish women did not enjoy during the first millennium of the Common Era. The penal and civil law of the time treated men and women equally.


title: Women in Judaism

text: There is evidence that, at least among the elite, women were educated in the Bible and in "halacha". The daughter of a scholar was considered a good prospect for marriage in part because of her education. There are stories in the Talmud about women whose husbands died or were exiled and yet were still able to educate their children because of their own level of learning.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Classical Jewish rabbinical literature contains quotes that may be seen as both laudatory and derogatory of women. The Talmud states that:


title: Women in Judaism

text: While few women are mentioned by name in rabbinic literature, and none are known to have authored a rabbinic work, those who are mentioned are portrayed as having a strong influence on their husbands. Occasionally they have a public persona. Examples are Bruriah, the wife of the Tanna Rabbi Meir; Rachel, wife of Rabbi Akiva; and Yalta, the wife of Rabbi Nachman. Eleazar ben Arach's wife Ima Shalom counseled her husband in assuming leadership over the Sanhedrin. When Eleazar ben Arach was asked to assume the role of "Nasi" ("Prince" or President of the Sanhedrin), he replied that he must first take counsel with his wife, which he did.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Since Jews were seen as second-class citizens in the Christian and Muslim world (legally known in the Muslim world as dhimmi), it was even harder for Jewish women to establish their own status. Avraham Grossman argues in his book, "Pious and Rebellious: Jewish Women in Medieval Europe", that three factors affected how Jewish women were perceived by the society around them: "the biblical and Talmudic heritage; the situation in the non-Jewish society within which the Jews lived and functioned; and the economic status of the Jews, including the woman's role in supporting the family." Grossman uses all three factors to argue that women's status overall during this period actually rose.


title: Women in Judaism

text: During the Middle Ages, there was a conflict between Judaism's lofty religious expectations of women and the reality of society in which these Jewish women lived; this is similar to the lives of Christian women in the same period. This prompted the kabbalistic work "Sefer Hakanah" to demand that women fulfill the "mitzvot" in a way that would be equal to men. There is evidence that in some communities of Ashkenaz in the 15th century, the wife of the rabbi wore "tzitzit" just like her husband.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Religious developments during the medieval period included relaxation on prohibitions against teaching women Torah, and the rise of women's prayer groups. One place that women participated in Jewish practices publicly was the synagogue. Women probably learned how to read the liturgy in Hebrew.


title: Women in Judaism

text: According to John Bowker, traditionally, Jewish "men and women pray separately. This goes back to ancient times when women could go only as far as the second court of the Temple." In most synagogues, the women were given their own section, most likely a balcony; some synagogues had a separate building.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Separation from the men was created by the Rabbis in the Mishnah and the Talmud. The reasoning behind the Halacha was that a woman and her body would distract men and give them impure thoughts during prayer. Due to this rabbinical interpretation, scholars have seen the women's role in the synagogue as limited and sometimes even non-existent. However, recent research has shown that women actually had a larger role in the synagogue and the community at large. Women usually attended synagogue, for example, on the Shabbat and the holidays.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Depending on the location of the women in the synagogue, they may have followed the same service as the men or they conducted their own services. Since the synagogues were large, there would be a designated woman who would be able to follow the cantor and repeat the prayers aloud for the women. Women had always attended services on Shabbat and holidays, but beginning in the eleventh century, women became more involved in the synagogue and its rituals. Women sitting separately from the men became a norm in synagogues around the beginning of the thirteenth century. Women, however, did much more than pray in the synagogue. One of the main jobs for women was to beautify the building. There are Torah ark curtains and Torah covers that women sewed and survive today. The synagogue was a communal place for both men and women where worship, learning and community activities occurred.


title: Women in Judaism

text: The rise and increasing popularity of Kabbalah, which emphasized the shechinah and female aspects of the divine presence and human-divine relationship, and which saw marriage as a holy covenant between partners rather than just a civil contract, had great influence. Kabbalists explained the phenomenon of menstruation as expressions of the demonic or sinful character of the menstruant. These changes were accompanied by increased pietistic strictures, including greater requirements for modest dress, and greater strictures during the period of menstruation. At the same time, there was a rise in philosophical and midrashic interpretations depicting women in a negative light, emphasizing a duality between matter and spirit in which femininity was associated, negatively, with earth and matter. The gentile society was also seen as a negative influence on the Jewish community. For example, it seems that Jews would analyze the modesty of their non-Jewish neighbors before officially moving into a new community because they knew that their children would be influenced by the local gentiles.


title: Women in Judaism

text: After the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, women became virtually the only source of Jewish ritual and tradition in the Catholic world in a phenomenon known as crypto-Judaism. Crypto-Jewish women would slaughter their own animals and made sure to keep as many of the Jewish dietary laws and life cycle rituals as possible without raising suspicion. Occasionally, these women were prosecuted by Inquisition officials for suspicious behavior such as lighting candles to honor the Sabbath or refusing to eat pork when it was offered to them. The Inquisition targeted crypto-Jewish women at least as much as it targeted crypto-Jewish men because women were accused of perpetuating Jewish tradition while men were merely permitting their wives and daughters to organize the household in this manner.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Marriage, domestic violence and divorce are all topics discussed by Jewish sages of the Medieval world. Marriage is an important institution in Judaism (see Marriage in Judaism). The sages of this period discussed this topic at length. The wife and mother in Hebrew, is called "akeret habayit," which in English translation means "mainstay of the house." In traditional and Orthodox Judaism the "akeret habayit", or woman of the house, tends to the family and household duties.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Rabbeinu Gershom instituted a rabbinic decree (Takkanah) prohibiting polygyny among Ashkenazic Jews. At the time, Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews did not recognize the validity of the ban.


title: Women in Judaism

text: The rabbis instituted legal methods to enable women to petition a rabbinical court to compel a divorce. Maimonides ruled that a woman who found her husband "repugnant" could ask a court to compel a divorce by flogging the recalcitrant husband "because she is not like a captive, to be subjected to intercourse with one who is hateful to her". Furthermore, Maimonides ruled that a woman may "consider herself as divorced and remarry" if her husband became absent for three years or more. This was to prevent women married to traveling merchants from becoming an agunah if the husband never returned.


title: Women in Judaism

text: The rabbis also instituted and tightened prohibitions on domestic violence. Rabbi Peretz ben Elijah ruled, "The cry of the daughters of our people has been heard concerning the sons of Israel who raise their hands to strike their wives. Yet who has given a husband the authority to beat his wife?" Rabbi Meir of Rothenberg ruled that, "For it is the way of the Gentiles to behave thus, but Heaven forbid that any Jew should do so. And one who beats his wife is to be excommunicated and banned and beaten." Rabbi Meir of Rothenberg also ruled that a battered wife could petition a rabbinical court to compel a husband to grant a divorce, with a monetary fine owed to her on top of the regular ketubah money. These rulings occurred in the midst of societies where wife-beating was legally sanctioned and routine.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Jewish women had a limited education. They were taught to read, write, run a household. They were also given some education in religious law that was essential to their daily lives, such as keeping kosher. Both Christian and Jewish girls were educated in the home. Although Christian girls may have had a male or female tutor, most Jewish girls had a female tutor. Higher learning was uncommon for women. (See Female Education in the Medieval Period). There are more sources of education for Jewish women living in Muslim-controlled lands. For example, Middle Eastern Jewry had an abundance of female literates.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Many women gained enough education to help their husbands out in business or even run their own. Jewish women seem to have lent money to Christian women throughout Europe. Women were also copyists, midwives, spinners, and weavers.


title: Women in Judaism

text: From certain contexts of the Mishnah and Talmud it can be derived that women should not study Mishnah. There were female Tannaitic Torah jurists such as Rabbi Meir's wife, Rabbi Meir's daughter, and the daughter of Haninah ben Teradion Haninah's daughter is again mentioned as a sage in the non-Talmud 3rd-century text Tractate Semahot verse 12:13. Rabbi Meir's wife is credited with teaching him how to understand some verses from Isaiah. In the Mishnah there is also a reference to certain women teaching men the Torah from behind a curtain, so that no man would be offended.


title: Women in Judaism

text: A "yeshiva", or school for Talmudic studies, is an "exclusively masculine environment" because of absence of women from these studies.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Maimonides tended to elevate the status of women above that which was common for the Middle Ages. For example, Maimonides permitted women to study Torah despite the fact that other contemporary and preceding legal opinions of his time did not.


title: Women in Judaism

text: The Hida wrote that women should study the Mishnah only if they want to. According to the Hida, the prohibition of teaching women does not apply to a motivated woman or girl. His response to detractors was that indeed, in truth, there is a prohibition against teaching Mishnah to any student—male or female—who one knows is not properly prepared and motivated.


title: Women in Judaism

text: One of the most important Ashkenazi rabbanim of the past century, Yisrael Meir Kagan, known popularly as the "Chofetz Chaim", favored Torah education for girls to counteract the French "finishing schools" prevalent in his day for the daughters of the bourgeoisie.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik taught that all religious Ashkenazi Jews, with the exception of hardline Hasidim, not merely should, or solely if they show motivation, but must teach their female children Gemarah like the boy school children: "The halakha prohibiting Torah study for women is not indiscriminate or all-encompassing. ... 'If ever circumstances dictate that study of Torah sh-Ba'al Peh is necessary to provide a firm foundation for faith, such study becomes obligatory and obviously lies beyond the pale of any prohibition.' Undoubtedly, the Rav's prescription was more far-reaching than that of the Hafets Hayim and others. But the difference in magnitude should not obscure their fundamental agreement [on changing the attitudes Halachically]."


title: Women in Judaism

text: Orthodox Judaism is based on gendered understandings of Jewish practice (i.e., that there are different roles for men and women in religious life). This reflects the view that all are created "unique" rather than "equal". This emphasizes the view that everyone is created with a specialized, unique role in the world. There are different opinions among Orthodox Jews concerning these differences. Most claim that men and women have complementary yet different roles in religious life resulting in different religious obligations. For example, women are not burdened with time-bound mitzvot. Others believe that some of these differences are not a reflection of religious law, but rather of cultural, social, and historical causes. In the area of education, women were historically exempted from any study beyond an understanding of the practical aspects of Torah and the rules necessary for running a Jewish household; both of which they have an obligation to learn. Until the twentieth century, women were often discouraged from learning Talmud and other advanced Jewish texts. In the past 100 years, Orthodox Jewish education for women has advanced tremendously. This is most embodied in the development of the Bais Yaakov system.


title: Women in Judaism

text: There have been many areas in which Orthodox women have been working toward change within religious life over the past 20 years: promoting advanced women's learning and scholarship, promoting women's ritual inclusion in synagogue, promoting women's communal and religious leadership, and more. Women have been advancing change despite often vocal opposition by rabbinic leaders. Some Orthodox rabbis try to discount changes by claiming that women are motivated by sociological reason rather than "true" religious motivation. For example, Orthodox, Haredi, and Hasidic rabbis discourage women from wearing a kippah, tallit, or tefillin.


title: Women in Judaism

text: In most Orthodox synagogues, women are not entitled to deliver divrei Torah-brief discourses generally on the weekly Torah portion-after or between services; shiurim are typically limited to men, as well. Furthermore, many Orthodox synagogues have physical barriers (known as "mechitzot") dividing the left and right sides of the synagogue (rather than the usual division between the main floor and large balconies), with the women's section on one side, and the men's section on the other. Technically, a "mechitzah" of over four feet or so (ten handbreadths) suffices, even if the men can see the women, though it is not preferable. The mechitza serves to enhance the quality of prayer by ensuring that men are not distracted by the opposite sex. A typical "mechitzah" consists of wheeled wooden panels, often topped with one-way glass to allow women to view the Torah reading.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Although Judaism prescribes modesty for both men and women, the importance of modesty in dress and conduct is particularly stressed among women and girls in Orthodox society. Most Orthodox women only wear skirts, and avoid wearing trousers, and most married Orthodox women cover their hair with a scarf ("tichel"), snood, hat, beret, or wig.


title: Women in Judaism

text: In accordance with Jewish Law, Orthodox Jewish women refrain from bodily contact with their husbands while they are menstruating, and for a period of 7 clean days after menstruating, and after the birth of a child. The Israeli Rabbinate has recently approved women acting as "yoatzot", halakhic advisers on sensitive personal matters such as family purity.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, a leader of profound influence in modern Orthodoxy in the United States, discouraged women from serving as presidents of synagogues or any other official positions of leadership, from performing other mitzvot (commandments) traditionally performed by males exclusively, such as wearing a tallit or tefillin. A minor reason argued for why only men wear tefillin is that the tefillin help keep men from thinking impure thoughts. Women are thought not to need help with this. Soloveitchik wrote that while women do not lack the capability to perform such acts, there is no "mesorah" (Jewish tradition) that permits it. In making his decision, he relied upon Jewish oral law, including a mishnah in Chulin 2a and a Beit Yoseph in the Tur Yoreh Deah stating that a woman can perform a specific official communal service for her own needs, but not those of others.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Women's issues garnered more interest with the advent of feminism. Many Modern Orthodox Jewish women and Modern Orthodox rabbis sought to provide greater and more advanced Jewish education for women. Since most Modern Orthodox women attend college, and many receive advanced degrees in a variety of fields, Modern Orthodox communities promote women's secular education. A few Modern Orthodox Synagogues have women serving as clergy, including Gilah Kletenik at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun. In 2013, Yeshivat Maharat, located in the United States, became the first Orthodox institution to consecrate female clergy. The graduates of Yeshivat Maharat did not call themselves "rabbis". The title they were given is "maharat". However, in 2015, Yaffa Epstein was ordained as Rabba by Yeshivat Maharat. Also in 2015, Lila Kagedan was ordained as Rabbi by that same organization, making her their first graduate to take the title "Rabbi".


title: Women in Judaism

text: In 2013, Malka Schaps became the first female Haredi dean at an Israeli university when she was appointed dean of Bar Ilan University's Faculty of Exact Sciences. Also in 2013, the first class of female halachic advisers trained to practice in the US graduated; they graduated from the North American branch of Nishmat's yoetzet halacha program in a ceremony at Congregation Sheartith Israel, Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in Manhattan, and SAR High School in Riverdale, New York, began allowing girls to wrap tefillin during Shacharit-morning prayer in an all-female prayer group; it is probably the first Modern Orthodox high school in the U.S. to do so.


title: Women in Judaism

text: In 2014, the first-ever book of halachic decisions written by women who were ordained to serve as poskot (Idit Bartov and Anat Novoselsky) was published. The women were ordained by the municipal chief rabbi of Efrat, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, after completing Midreshet Lindenbaum women's college's five-year ordination course in advanced studies in Jewish law, as well as passing examinations equivalent to the rabbinate's requirement for men.


title: Women in Judaism

text: In 2010, Sara Hurwitz became the first woman to ordained as a "Rabba", or female equivalent of a rabbi, when she started serving as an "Open Orthodox" spiritual leader at Riverdale, Bronx, New York On June 10, 2015, Dr. Meesh Hammer-Kossoy and Rahel Berkovits became the first two women to be ordained as Modern Orthodox Jewish Rabbas in Israel.


title: Women in Judaism

text: In June 2015, Lila Kagedan was ordained by Yeshivat Maharat and in keeping with newer policies, was given the freedom to choose her own title, and she chose to be addressed as "Rabbi". She officially became the first female Modern Orthodox rabbi in the United States of America when the Modern Orthodox Mount Freedom Jewish Center in Randolph, New Jersey hired her as a spiritual leader in January 2016. As of 2019, Kagedan is working as the rabbi at Walnut Street Synagogue.


title: Women in Judaism

text: In the fall of 2015, the Agudath Israel of America denounced moves to ordain women, and went even further, declaring Yeshivat Maharat, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, Open Orthodoxy, and other affiliated entities to be similar to other dissident movements throughout Jewish history in having rejected basic tenets of Judaism.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Also in the fall of 2015, the Rabbinical Council of America passed a resolution which states, "RCA members with positions in Orthodox institutions may not ordain women into the Orthodox rabbinate, regardless of the title used; or hire or ratify the hiring of a woman into a rabbinic position at an Orthodox institution; or allow a title implying rabbinic ordination to be used by a teacher of Limudei Kodesh in an Orthodox institution."


title: Women in Judaism

text: Also in 2015, Jennie Rosenfeld became the first female Orthodox spiritual advisor in Israel. (Specifically, she became the spiritual advisor, also called manhiga ruchanit, for the community of Efrat.)


title: Women in Judaism

text: In 2016, it was announced that Ephraim Mirvis created the job of ma'ayan by which women would be advisers on Jewish law in the area of family purity and as adult educators in Orthodox synagogues. This requires a part-time training course for 18 months, which is the first such course in the United Kingdom. On August 23, 2016, Karmit Feintuch became the first woman in Jerusalem, Israel, to be hired as a Modern Orthodox "rabbanit" and serve as a spiritual leader.


title: Women in Judaism

text: In 2017, the Orthodox Union adopted a policy banning women from serving as clergy, from holding titles such as "rabbi", or from doing common clergy functions even without a title, in its congregations in the United States.


title: Women in Judaism

text: Separate Jewish women's prayer groups were a sanctioned custom among German Jews in the Middle Ages. The "Kol Bo" provides, in the laws for Tisha B'Av:


title: Women in Judaism

text: In Germany, in the 12th and 13th centuries, women's prayer groups were led by female cantors. Rabbi Eliezer of Worms, in his elegy for his wife Dulca, praised her for teaching the other women how to pray and embellishing the prayer with music. The gravestone of Urania of Worms, who died in 1275, contains the inscription "who sang "piyyutim" for the women with musical voice". In the Nurnberg Memorial Book, one Richenza was inscribed with the title "prayer leader of the women".